Hanhan hugging her favorite toilet paper
Two-year-old Hanhan (a pseudonym) is the daughter of a Mr. Zhang from a village in Yangzhuang Town, Yishui County, Linyi City. Smart and well-behaved, she rarely makes a fuss. However, since last year, Mr. Zhang and his wife were astonished to find their beloved daughter eating toilet paper. Subsequently, they hid all the toilet paper in the house, but unexpectedly, their daughter's condition worsened.
She started to be interested in any kind of cardboard. She would take bites out of the cardboard boxes at home when the adults weren't paying attention. She would eat the candy along with its paper wrapper and even nibble on the couplets posted on the door, to the point where her tongue and teeth turned red without her noticing. For this, Mr. Zhang had also taken his daughter to the local hospital for a check-up, but no cause was found. Currently, the family has nothing else to do except hide all the paper items that can be seen.
A. Surprise: Daughter actually eating toilet paper
On November 20th, a reporter received a call from Ms. Zhang, a villager in Yangzhuang Town, Yishui County, Linyi City. She told the reporter that in their village, there was a two-year-old girl who treated toilet paper as a snack.
"Few villagers know about this matter. I found it when I visited their house. At the time, we were having a meal together. When we took out the toilet paper to wipe our hands, a piece fell on the floor. Before I could pick it up, their two-year-old daughter Hanhan suddenly ran over to grab it. At the time, I didn't think much of it, thinking the child was just playing around. Unexpectedly, her father became tense and quickly stepped on the toilet paper with his foot, but the child still insisted on hugging her father's leg to get the toilet paper. Then, her father told us about the child's story. It turns out that their child has a habit of eating toilet paper."
On November 21st, under the guidance of Ms. Zhang, the reporter came to Hanhan's house. At the time, two-year-old Hanhan was riding a small bike around the living room. The reporter saw that she had big eyes and looked very pretty and well-behaved.
Hanhan's mother told the reporter that she discovered her daughter's strange behavior of eating toilet paper last year. "One day last year, I unexpectedly found Hanhan chewing something in her mouth. I asked her what she was eating and made her spit it out to take a look. Unexpectedly, what she spat out shocked us—it was toilet paper chewed into little lumps. Even more confusing for us was that after chewing, she swallowed it directly. That's when we noticed that there was a roll of toilet paper next to her, and many pieces had been torn into strips."
"After discovering this, we hid all the toilet paper in the house. This worked somewhat; the child couldn't see the toilet paper and didn't cry for it. But whenever she saw it, she would become very excited, even trembling as she tried to grab it from us. Later, we criticized the child multiple times, warning her that the toilet paper wasn't edible. Sometimes, we even beat her, hoping to help her break this habit. However, not only did the child not change, she learned to sneakily eat it behind our backs. We saw her pick up toilet paper, hold it in her hand quietly, hide it in her pocket, and then eat it in a place where no one was around," Hanhan's mother told the reporter. She said she was also helpless and could only try to hide the toilet paper so that the child wouldn't see it.
When Hanhan couldn't find toilet paper at home, was it like her parents hoped, that she would break the habit of eating toilet paper? The development of events completely went against Hanhan's parents' expectations. Not only did she not break this habit, but she also started to be interested in other types of paper.
"Hanhan's grandmother runs a small shop in the village, and sometimes we leave the child with her. One day, we found that the child was actually biting a cardboard box in the shop. Gradually, we also found that when Hanhan ate haw flakes, she would eat the paper packaging along with them." Hanhan's mother told the reporter that during last year's Spring Festival, when many couplets were pasted at home, Hanhan found a new target. Whenever the adults weren't paying attention, she would tear off the couplets and eat them, "Her mouth would turn red, but she seemed very happy."
B. Experiment: In front of a pile of snacks, she chose the toilet paper
On the 21st, at Mr. Zhang's house, the reporter found that Hanhan was no different from other children. However, Hanhan's mother told the reporter, "She is shy around strangers, but if you give her some toilet paper now, she will definitely hold onto it tightly."
To verify whether Hanhan was really interested in toilet paper, Hanhan's mother took out a palm-sized piece of toilet paper and gave it to Hanhan. Unexpectedly, Hanhan's eyes lit up upon seeing it, and she stretched out her small hand to snatch the toilet paper and held it tightly. No matter how the reporter tried to take it back from her, she wouldn't let go, and when asked what she was going to do with it, she didn't say anything.
"Does Hanhan usually eat other snacks?" the reporter asked Hanhan's mother.
"She does eat other snacks, like chocolate and candies. There's no difference between her and other children, and she doesn't picky eaters when it comes to meals," Hanhan's mother said.
If there were a pile of snacks and a roll of toilet paper placed together, which would Hanhan choose? The reporter voiced this doubt to Hanhan's mother, who confidently said, "The toilet paper."
Subsequently, Hanhan's mother took out a bunch of snacks and placed them on the sofa, including chocolates, egg yolk cakes, and some drinks. Of course, Hanhan's mother deliberately put a roll of toilet paper among them and invited Hanhan to come and choose. Hanhan rode her small bike over and seemed to immediately focus on the white roll of toilet paper. She reached out her hand to grab it but then surprisingly pulled it back and instead picked up a piece of chocolate and ate it with relish. Just as we thought Hanhan might have forgotten about the toilet paper, unexpectedly, she pushed the other snacks aside and placed the toilet paper separately on the other side of the sofa. Then, she intentionally pushed the roll of toilet paper to the ground. Hanhan got off her bike and quickly ran to the other side of the sofa, picking up the toilet paper, her little face turning red with joy.
"Hanhan, give the toilet paper to Mommy." Unexpectedly, Hanhan pouted her lips and refused to let go of the toilet paper, fearing it would be snatched away. Then, Hanhan got back on her bike, holding the handlebar with one hand and tightly gripping the toilet paper with the other. No matter who asked for it, she firmly refused to give it up. Hanhan's father came over to ask for the toilet paper, trying to persuade her with sweet words, and she reluctantly tore off a small piece and handed it to her dad before quickly riding her bike away.
"In the past, we often scolded her for this, but now she has become crafty, secretly crumpling the toilet paper into balls and hiding them in her pockets or sleeves." Hanhan's mother told the reporter, "You'll see, she will surely tear the toilet paper into strips, crumple them into balls, and then hide them in her clothes." Subsequently, the reporter quietly walked behind Hanhan and found that, as her mother had said, she was tearing the toilet paper into strips. To prevent her from hiding the toilet paper and eating it, the reporter played a game with Hanhan and offered her snacks, but Hanhan never let go of the toilet paper in her hand. Later, Hanhan's mother managed to retrieve the toilet paper when Hanhan wasn't paying attention.
C. Strange: Unable to find the reason, daughter often convulses before sleeping
Hanhan's father told the reporter that Hanhan eats normally and isn't dependent on toilet paper—she won't cry for it as long as she can't see it. But as soon as she sees it, she seems addicted, excitedly asking adults for toilet paper. "We suspect it's a disease. We took her to the hospital for a check-up recently. After blood tests, everything was normal except for a lack of iron in her blood. The doctor prescribed some tablets for her to take, but she refuses to take them. Besides, she eats paper, which has nothing to do with iron."
So why does the child have an addiction to eating paper?
Hanhan's mother told the reporter that this habit might be related to Hanhan's childhood. "When Hanhan first learned to play by herself, we were sometimes too busy to take care of her, so we gave her a roll of toilet paper to play with. Strangely, Hanhan would stop crying as soon as she saw the toilet paper, becoming quiet and peacefully tearing it into strips. We felt relieved at the time, thinking that Hanhan playing with toilet paper saved us a lot of trouble. As for her eating toilet paper, we only discovered it last year."
Hanhan's father also mentioned another strange behavior: "Every time Hanhan goes to sleep at night, she lies down on her back and, in the period before falling asleep, she continuously hugs her legs and convulses. Her face always turns red, and she breathes heavily. No matter how we call her, she ignores us, and even if we massage her to relieve her tension, it has no effect. This situation coexists with her habit of eating toilet paper, and we suspect there may be a connection between the two."
"We don't have any other solutions except hiding all the paper items in the house. We went to the hospital, but no results were found. We hope citizens and experts with experience in this area can give us some advice," Hanhan's mother told the reporter. Hanhan will soon be old enough to attend school. If this habit isn't corrected, wouldn't she end up eating textbooks?
By/Photo: Reporter Wang Shouhua
◎Link: Various cases of pica around the world
American woman eats five bars of soap per week
In February 2011, a 19-year-old girl from Florida, USA, who had a penchant for eating cleaning products, consumed at least five bars of soap per week to satisfy her craving. After six months of this behavior, Tapasta finally summoned the courage to see a doctor. She was later informed that she suffered from a rare form of pica. The doctor believed it was mainly caused by stress, a claim Tapasta agreed with, as her breakup had caused her significant psychological harm and stress.
Dutch woman swallowed 78 pieces of cutlery
Thirty years ago, a Dutch woman named Margaretha Da Almada sought medical help due to unbearable stomach pain at a hospital in Rotterdam. The diagnosis was shocking: Margaretha's stomach contained 78 silver spoons and forks. This bizarre story was exposed in October 2009 by a German medical journal. Doctors said she suffered from borderline personality disorder, which led to her mysterious desire for cutlery like spoons and forks.
French elder swallowed 350 coins in ten years
A French man with pica swallowed 350 coins over ten years. On February 12, 2004, the 62-year-old man died from complications 12 days after surgery. Bruno Francois, one of the doctors who treated him, revealed that the man had been swallowing coins for over ten years, unrelated to a wedding robbery incident.
British pregnant woman craves furniture polish
In July 2011, a 26-year-old British pregnant woman found herself craving furniture polish. Although she knew it was harmful to fetal development, she couldn't control herself. Doctors diagnosed her with pica, a condition characterized by the consumption of non-food items. Zong He