Why Do Children Eat Dirt?

New parents on playgrounds and beaches across the country are often aghast at how much dirt their children seem to consume in a single outing. Veteran parents know, however, that the dirt-eating ritual is most often just another childhood exploration and does little harm. While some might even tout a bacterial benefit at its consumption, it's not a practice you want to advocate. Don't worry about a little dirt, but do be wary if it goes too far or on for too long.

  1. Oral Exploration

    • Babies and toddlers explore the world in any way they can. And the human mouth, loaded with thousands of sensory receptors on the tongue that transmit taste information to the brain, is a perfect tool of exploration. Since babies generally have only good associations with things they put in their mouths, it's natural that the first thing they want to know about anything they touch is: does it taste good?

    Evolutionary Roots

    • According to Dr. Joel V. Weinstock, the director of gastroenterology and hepatology at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, society's successful efforts to clean the environment may have had some adverse effects as well. In eliminating the bad, we also eliminated good bacteria and organisms. A child's taste of the earth may be an instinctual effort to put a little of those good bacteria back where they belong.

    A Little Bit of a Bad Thing

    • While it may be disturbing to see your child put a mouthful of sand to her mouth, the odds are in her favor that it will have no long term adverse affects. There are exceptions, particularly if the soil she's eating is tainted with lead or mercury, but usually a little dirt isn't a bad thing. Pointing to the often too sterile environments in which children grow up today, some parents even believe the bit of bacteria they're gobbling helps their children build up their immunity against the more dangerous strains of bacteria that can really bring them down.

    Soil Dangers

    • Knowing what's in your soil and sand will help keep your child safe. Lead from paint and pipes that has leeched to soil can have devastating long-term effects on your child's health and brain development. Mercury, arsenic and a host of industrial chemicals can also be hiding in that handful of soil. Find out what sat on that plot of land before believing that a taste of it is harmless to your children.

    Pica

    • Most kids will eat dirt until they figure out that it's not such a great taste treat. However, between 10% and 30% of children between the ages of 1 and 6 may have an eating disorder known as pica. Characterized by a compulsion to eat soil, clay, sand and other nonfood items, pica usually occurs among the developmentally disabled, such as people with autism, other mental impairments or those who have suffered a brain injury. It is most likely to appear in children between the ages of 2 and 3. There is sometimes a link between pica cravings and deficiency in nutrients such as iron and zinc, so if your child exhibits this behavior, tell your pediatrician.

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