ARFID AND OTHER CHILD & ADOLESCENT FEEDING CONCERNS

Not all eating concerns are “standard” or “typical” eating disorders. ARFID stands for Avoid, Restrictive, Food intake Disorder. Individuals with ARFID or other feeding concerns have an extremely limited acceptance or limit volume intake of food but unlike other eating disorders, there is not a fear of fatness or distress about body shape, size or weight. In these cases, individuals will avoid food in fear of sensory sensitivity such as taste, texture or smell or adverse consequences such as vomiting or choking. While most children go through phases of picking eating, ARFID and other child and adolescent feeding concerns have such limited food intake that medical consequences such as stalled growth and nutritional deficiencies and psychosocial concerns can develop. ARFID usually develops in childhood, however, can occur at any age. Often ARFID or other feeding concerns appear concurrently with OCD or neurodivergence. Treating AFRID and other feeding concerns requires both therapeutic skills and dietitian support to see progress and provide improvement to symptoms. Our team at Authentically You is highly experienced with providing interventions to see improvement in food acceptance and decrease anxiety around food and social situations.