Avoidant & Restrictive Food Intake
Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), previously known as feeding disorder, is a type of eating disorder in which people eat only within an extremely narrow repertoire of foods.[1] It is a serious mental health condition that causes the individual to restrict food intake by volume and/or variety.[2] This avoidance may be based on appearance, smell, taste, texture (because of sensory sensitivity), brand, presentation, fear of aversive consequences, lack of interest in food, or a past negative experience with the food, to a point that may lead to nutritional deficiencies, failure to thrive, or other negative health outcomes.[2][3][4] The fixation is not caused by a concern for body appearance or in an attempt to lose weight. [5]
Cluster Number:
Wiki Number: W020
Diagnosis: Avoidant & Restrictive Food Intake Disorder
US Patients:
World Patients:
Sex Ratio:
Age Onset:
Brain Area:
Symptoms: eat only a very narrow menu of foods; cannot change eating habits
Progression: may exclude all fruits or all vegetable; certain certain colors, soft, etc. May still have digestive problems.
Causes:
Medications: relaxation, systematic desensitization and review
Therapies: With adults, may disappear spontaneously; with cognitive behavior therapies.
Yuoutube Video: Living with Avoidant Restrictive
Food Intake Disorder
Amazon or Library Book: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
(Talking Therapy) for Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder
Click the book to link or order from Amazon.
Support Group: balancedtx.com, prior sign-up is required. (This group is based in New York City. I don’t know if it includes other areas.)
Contact your local Social Security office for possible Disability Benefits through their Disability Determination Services, Section 12.08.
4 CURRENT ARTICLES
FROM PUBMED
The world-wide medical research
reports chosen for each diagnosis
Clicking each title opens the
PubMed article’s summary-abstract.
- A Multicenter Study to Assess Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseaseby Laurie B Grossberg on April 13, 2025
CONCLUSIONS: In this multi-center study, 16.3% of patients with inactive IBD met the criteria for ARFID, and 17.8% of all patients met the criteria regardless of objective disease activity. GI-specific anxiety was the only predictor of ARFID among patients with inactive IBD, highlighting the need for multidisciplinary care in IBD.
- United States-based practice guidelines for children and adolescents with eating disorders : Synthesis of clinical practice guidelinesby Cara Bohon on April 11, 2025
CONCLUSIONS: Guidelines show consensus on the importance of early identification and treatment access, involvement of family in treatment, and the use of a multidisciplinary treatment team. However, future work is needed to guide care of Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), as well as the impact of weight inclusive care and the development of validated screening tools for children and adolescents for all eating disorders.
- A CASE OF INDUCIBLE LARYNGEAL OBSTRUCTION REQUIRED DIFFERENTIATION FROM FOOD-DEPENDENT EXERCISE-INDUCED ANAPHYLAXISby Keisuke Yamamoto on April 9, 2025
A 9-year-old girl with a history of stridor and pharyngeal strangury was developed during exercise. The patient was diagnosed with food dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (FDEIA) because stridor occurred after wheat ingestion and exercise provocation test at the age of ten. Although the patient restricted intake of wheat before exercise, stridor and disturbance of consciousness occurred after exercise and did not respond to adrenaline injection. We suspected exercise-induced anaphylaxis or...
- Finding the Line Between Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder and Refractory Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction Using Lenient vs. Strict Severity Criteria: A Retrospective Exploratory Analysis From a Single Tertiary Neurogastroenterology Centreby Lee David Martin on April 7, 2025
BACKGROUND: Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is common among adults with disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBI) presenting to gastroenterology settings. Symptoms overlap between ARFID and DGBI. How the severity of ARFID is defined can impact rates of diagnosis. Importantly, a diagnosis of ARFID can only be applied when the eating disturbance exceeds that expected from the DGBI condition. This leads to diagnostic challenges for the gastroenterology team. We aimed to explore...