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ARFID

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder

​According to NEDA - National Eating Disorder Association:

People who suffer from ARFID are denied the essential nutrients required to function properly.

To conserve energy, the body slows down its functions which can lead to serious medical consequences.

Common Symptoms can include:​

  • Dramatic weight loss

  • Fatigue

  • Abdominal pain

  • Constipation

  • Intolerant to cold

  • Dressing in layers to hide the body or keep warm

  • Consume certain food textures

  • Restriction in types or amount of food eaten

  • Irregular menstrual cycle

  • Fear of vomiting or choking

  • Anemia

  • Poor concentration

  • Sleep disturbances

  • Dizziness

  • Dry, brittle, thinning hair

  • Dry, brittle nails

  • Fine hair on body (lanugo)

  • Low immunity

DSM V Criteria For AFRID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder):

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A. An eating or feeding disturbance (e.g., apparent lack of interest in eating or food; avoidance based on the sensory characteristics of food; concern about aversive consequences of eating) as manifested by persistent failure to meet appropriate nutritional and/or energy needs associated with one (or more) of the following:

  1. Significant weight loss (or failure to achieve expected weight gain or faltering growth in children)

  2. Significant nutritional deficiency.

  3. Dependence on enteral feeding or oral nutritional supplements.

  4. Marked interference with psychosocial functioning.

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B. The disturbance is not better explained by lack of available food or by an associated culturally sanctioned practice.

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C. The eating disturbance does not occur exclusively during the course of anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, and there is no evidence of a disturbance in the way in which one’s body weight or shape is experienced.

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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. DSM-5 Changes: Implications for Child Serious Emotional Disturbance [Internet]. Rockville (MD): Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US); 2016 Jun. Table 22, DSM-IV to DSM-5 Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder Comparison.

Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519712/table/ch3.t18/

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