Pagophagia (from Greek: pagos, frost, + phagō, to eat) is the compulsive consumption of ice or iced drinks. It is a form of the disorder pica.
Folk wisdom (and some early investigators) maintained that pica reflected an appetite to compensate for nutritional deficiencies, such as low iron or zinc.
Some forms of pica (as in pregnant women who are iron deficient) can be treated by supplementing the nutrient.