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pica
(piŽkә)
compulsive eating of nonnutritive substances, such as ice (pagophagia), dirt (geophagia), gravel, flaking paint or plaster, clay, hair (trichophagia), or laundry starch (amylophagia). It is often seen during pregnancy and also occurs in some patients with iron or zinc deficiencies. In children this syndrome,
classified with the eating disorders in DSM-IV, is a rare mental disorder with onset around the second year of life; it usually remits in childhood but may persist
into adolescence.

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