Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake

About Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake

Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder, often abbreviated ARFID, is a feeding and eating disorder introduced in DSM-5 in 2013, expanding the earlier category of feeding disorder of infancy or early childhood. It involves avoidance or restriction of food intake that leads to significant weight loss or faltering growth, nutritional deficiency, dependence on nutritional supplements or tube feeding, or marked interference with social functioning. Common drivers include a lack of interest in eating or food, avoidance based on sensory characteristics such as texture, smell, taste or appearance, and fear of aversive consequences such as choking, vomiting or pain. Unlike anorexia nervosa, the restriction is not driven by concerns about body weight or shape. ARFID is often identified in childhood but can affect people of all ages, and it frequently co occurs with anxiety disorders, autism and ADHD. It differs from ordinary picky eating in its severity and its effects on health, growth or daily life. Medical complications can resemble those of other forms of undernutrition. Assessment typically involves medical, nutritional and psychological evaluation. Treatment is often multidisciplinary, combining nutritional rehabilitation, cognitive behavioral therapy adapted for ARFID with gradual exposure to new or feared foods, family based approaches for young people, and treatment of co occurring anxiety.