Rosie Skinner first developed a taste for bath sponges when she was just 5 years old, now eats two of them a week

Nov 26, 2014 14:15 GMT  ·  By

As shocking as this may sound, 19-year-old Rosie Skinner, who now lives in Surrey, UK, has a freakishly strong appetite not for pizza, hamburgers or any of the other treats folks her age are utterly unable to get enough of.

No, Sir, this teenager likes to eat sponges. That's right, the kind of sponges that people use to clean themselves or their car. In fact, she likes them so much that she eats about two of them each and every week.

How it all started

The teenager says that she first took a fancy to eating bath sponges, regardless of shape or color, when she was about 5 years old. Fast forward about a decade and a half, and the 19-year-old says that she is now addicted to eating them.

The young woman explains that, even as a child, she found the smell of wet sponges utterly irresistible. One day, she simply decided to stop trying to resist her urges and ate one. Apparently, that was all it took for her to become hooked.

“I have always loved the smell of a wet sponge,” 19-year-old Rosie Skinner told the press in an interview, as cited by Daily Mail. “I crave that damp taste and feeling in my mouth. I like the texture as well, it's a bit like eating cake,” she added.

Not the safest diet in the books

Specialists say that, because of the sponges she likes to feast on, the teenager could develop several health troubles. Thus, she risks having the bath sponges forever damage her digestive tract and even cause her to develop all sorts of infections.

In fact, it was when she was just 13 years old that Rosie Skinner had to undergo surgery and have doctors remove a sponge ball about the size of a mouse from her stomach. Besides, the girl says that, when she was 10, she lost a tooth in a sponge she was snacking on.

What's more, it appears that the teenager's boyfriend, together with her family, is giving her grief over her dietary preferences. “My family and my boyfriend, Callum, think I'm mad, but I don't mind, it's just part of who I am,” the 19-year-old said in a statement.

Explaining Rosie Skinner's love for sponges

Specialists who have had the chance to talk to the teenager and observe her behavior say that she is suffering from a condition known to the medical community as Pica syndrome. What this means is that she constantly feels the urge to snack on things that have no nutritional value and that can even harm her.

Mind you, there are plenty of other people diagnosed with Pica syndrome. For instance, a woman currently living in China is addicted to eating hairballs and a man in India very much likes to eat bricks, rocks and even mud.

Seeing how her love for sponges can cause her serious health trouble, 19-year-old Rosie Skinner is now trying to kick the habit. However, she admits that, since this dietary choice is an addiction, she finds it very difficult to control her urges.

19-year-old in the UK is addicted to eating sponges (5 Images)

A young woman in the UK is addicte to eating sponges
Rossie Skinner is now 19 years oldShe says she craving sponges when she was just a child
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