article_snippet.sent: Jessica Knight can't stop eating carpet underlay and the stuffing from soft furnishings .
article_snippet.sent: The four-year-old has an unusual appetite for furniture, soft furnishings and fittings, and doctors say doctors are unable to treat Jessica Knight.
article_snippet.sent: Hardly anything is off the youngster’s menu, with the filling from a rocking horse, padding in an armchair and even carpet underlay taking Jessica Knight fancy.
article_snippet.sent: Jessica Knight devours include sand and chips of cement from paving blocks.
article_snippet.sent: Jessica Knight suffers from pica, a rare medical disorder that leads to an appetite for non-nutritious substances.
article_snippet.sent: I was really shocked when I realised just how much Jessica Knight was eating.
article_snippet.sent: Miss Will, 36, first noticed the problem when Jessica Knight was two and began eating the filling from a children’s armchair.
article_snippet.sent: Staff at Jessica Knight pre-school also spotted Jessica Knight licking Jessica Knight hands and placing her hands in a sandpit before sucking the grains from Jessica Knight fingers, before tell-tale signs of snack-attacks became clear from the damage to items around my house.
article_snippet.sent: Jessica, who has a three-year-old sister, Jennifer, is now allowed to keep a small purse filled with some of the spongy underlay to eat.
article_snippet.sent: Jessica Knight's Pica makes Jessica's Pica want to eat substances including sponge, sand and even rocks .
article_snippet.sent: Jessica's Pica is an eating disorder that is characterised by the desire to eat items with little or no nutritional value.
article_snippet.sent: Experts have examined Jessica but said Experts cannot intervene until Jessica is six, and old enough to make conscious decisions about what Jessica eats rather than acting on impulse.
article_snippet.sent: Fortunately, Jessica does like plain sausages, cheese strings, rice pudding, bread, Weetabix and fish fingers.
article_snippet.sent: But Jessica unusual snacks can leave Jessica in agony because her unusual snacks cause stomach cramps and constipation.
article_snippet.sent: Despite Jessica tender years, Jessica is aware that Jessica diet is highly unusual, and does worry what people would think of Jessica craving different food.
article_snippet.sent: Jessica also shuts Jessica little sister out of their shared room when Jessica is satisfying one of Jessica cravings, saying: ‘
article_snippet.sent: Jessica's parents have given Jessica a purse full of bits of sponge to eat .
highlights_snippet.sent: Jessica Knight loves eating carpet underlay and furniture stuffing .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: Jessica Knight also snacks on sand and rocks even though parents try to stop Jessica Knight .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: Family now give Jessica Knight a purse full of sponge to control Jessica Knight cravings .
  