An article published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood warns of a dangerous new social media trend in which children ingest large quantities of nutmeg in an attempt to gain a natural 'high'.
TikTok and other social medial platforms allow users to link their content to that of others based on a similar theme. This has given rise to the emergence of 'challenge' videos in which users create copycat videos emulating the behaviour of others they have encountered online.
More recently, challenges have developed involving excessive ingestion of seemingly innocuous and widely available substances, such as salt and food colouring, with the potential for serious harm.
The warning follows a case of a 14-year-old girl who presented to the emergency department at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire having ingested three tablespoons (21 g) of nutmeg as part of the 'Nutmeg Challenge'. She reported having copied TikTok videos which had recommended this as a mechanism to achieve a 'natural high'. However, after several hours, she developed severe agitation and reported the ingestion to her mother. She was discharged home after a period of observation.
Nutmeg contains myristicin and elemicin, which have anticholinergic and psychotropic properties, with metabolites inducing hallucinogenic effects at doses of 5-20 g. Seizures have been reported.
The author Rachel Rose Atherton from the Department of Paediatrics at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire, said: “In the digital age, it is essential that all professionals are mindful of social media platforms such as TikTok and the associated trends exerting heavy influence over the behaviour of our children and young people.”
