31st January 2024

Avoidant-restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)

A recently recognised disorder which presents similarly to anorexia, though the psychological symptoms of food refusal are not based on a fear of fatness but rather due to other thoughts or beliefs around food. This will then cause the patient to fail to gain sufficient calories for healthy social functioning, therefore can present similar with the starvation syndrome. They can also present with specific nutritional deficiencies if the belief is about a particular food group, e.g. fruit and vegetables. This is usually due to avoidance of certain food characteristics (e.g., smell, colour, texture), lack of recognition of hunger, fear of choking or vomiting and emotional distress at mealtimes. There is often an overlap with sensory processing, similar to difficulties seen in autism spectrum disorders.