Most parents can attest to the difficulty of getting kids to try new foods. Picky eating is nothing new, but what happens when it involves many foods, never goes away, or gets worse? ARFID—avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder—may develop. ARFID is an eating disorder involving an extreme avoidance or low intake of food. Without treatment, ARFID can be challenging to live with.
If you or your child live with severe picky eating and you’re worried about their well-being, Rogers Behavioral Health can help. For more than a century, we’ve helped patients find a happier, healthier way forward. Call 833.308.5887 to find ARFID treatment near you.
Eating Disorders Aren’t About Seeking Attention
Like other eating disorders, ARFID is not about seeking attention or just being picky for the sake of it. ARFID has deep roots in a person’s mental health and can stem from a fear of choking or something bad happening while eating, sensory issues and texture, or just a general lack of interest in food. Regardless of the cause, remaining compassionate and empathetic toward individuals with eating disorders can greatly reduce stigma and help them feel more comfortable asking for help. It’s important to understand the disorder, how it impacts individuals who live with it each day, and what can be done to help.
7 Things You Should Know About ARFID
1. ARFID vs. Picky Eating: ARFID Is Different than Picky Eating
While picky eating and ARFID may have certain similarities, ARFID is differentiated by the level of physical and mental distress that eating causes. Someone with ARFID may have difficulty chewing or swallowing and can even gag or choke in response to eating foods that give them high levels of anxiety. The anxiety can also cause them to avoid any social eating situation, such as a school lunch or birthday party.
With ARFID, foods may be avoided based on physical characteristics, such as texture, smell, and appearance or based on past negative experiences, like choking or vomiting. Before being added to the DSM-5 in 2013, ARFID had been known as feeding disorder of infancy or early childhood or eating disorder, not otherwise specified.
2. ARFID Can Cause Serious Health Issues
One of the most common results of ARFID is significant weight loss or failure to gain weight and grow for those who should be in a growth spurt. Significant levels of nutritional deficiency may require higher levels of care for medical stabilization. Another common result is high levels of stress, especially when eating in social settings.
It’s important to know that if your child lives with ARFID, your parenting style didn’t cause it. However, you should look for help. Seeking professional support not only helps your child learn healthier ways to eat, but it also can empower them to find help if they need it again in the future without feeling ashamed.
3. ARFID Patients Are Not Overly Concerned with Weight Loss or Body Image
Even though weight loss is a frequent symptom of ARFID, this isn’t the reason for avoiding food. The lack of a preoccupation with body image or a fear of gaining weight is one way that ARFID differentiates itself from other eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Despite this, the consequences of ARFID may be just as severe.
People with ARFID avoid food because they don’t want to interact with it or deal with the stress it causes. They may have no interest in eating or have a few very selective foods they’re willing to eat. For some individuals, the thought of eating can be overwhelming and cause high levels of anxiety.
4. ARFID Affects People of All Ages and Genders
While ARFID is more often diagnosed in children and adolescents, it may occur in adults. This might include those who went untreated as children and have a long pattern of selective eating based on sensory concerns or feelings of disgust with new foods. While some eating disorders are more often found in females, ARFID is much closer to an even split or possibly even more common in males than females.
5. Many People with ARFID Have Co-Occurring Behavioral Health Conditions
It is common for people who are diagnosed with ARFID to have a co-existing anxiety, mood disorder, or another condition. If a medical condition that impacts appetite or eating is present, the degree of food avoidance must go beyond what would be expected for the medical condition to be classified as ARFID.
6. ARFID Treatment Is Effective
Eating disorders, including ARFID, can be successfully treated.
Rogers’ ARFID treatment is effective and includes cognitive behavioral therapy, with a specific focus on exposure and response prevention. We develop a list of anxiety-provoking scenarios on an individual basis known as exposure hierarchies. Starting with repeated exposure to the least stressful scenarios, patients reset their anxiety levels and gain confidence. Patients also learn coping skills for long-term recovery.
7. ARFID Has Psychological and Physical Symptoms
Psychological signs can include:
- Fears of choking or vomiting
- Lack of interest in food or appetite
- Picky eating that becomes worse
- Limiting food intake to particular textures
- Complaints of upset stomach or feeling full around mealtimes
- Physical signs can include:
Stomach cramps and other gastrointestinal complaints
- Cold intolerance
- Menstrual irregularities
- Difficulty concentrating
- Dizziness or fainting
- Sleep-related issues
- Fatigue
Wondering if you or your child lives with an eating disorder? Take our quiz and read more about eating disorders. While helpful, these tools are not intended to diagnose any particular eating disorder.
Reach Out to Rogers for ARFID Treatment
Rogers offers treatment for eating disorders at various levels of care throughout the country, including a residential program in Oconomowoc, WI, and outpatient clinics in multiple states.
If you think that you or someone you know may have ARFID, another eating disorder, or other mental health challenges, call 833.308.5887 for a free, confidential screening or request a screening online.
