Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) Signs & Symptoms

Learn about the signs and symptoms of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), a little-known and often misunderstood eating disorder.

Symptoms of ARFID vary widely, and may evolve with the developmental context of the individual (especially in children and adolescents).

Types and symptoms of ARFID include:

   Avoidant: Patients who only accept a limited diet in relation to sensory features (sensory sensitivity); sensory aversion; sensory over-stimulation

   Aversive: Individuals whose food refusal is related to aversive or fear-based experiences (phobic avoidance) including choking, nausea, vomiting, pain and/or swallowing

   Restrictive: Individuals who do not eat enough and show little interest in feeding or eating (low appetite); extreme pickiness; distractible and forgetful

   ARFID “Plus”: Individuals with avoidant, aversive, or restrictive types of ARFID presentations who begin to develop features of anorexia nervosa, including concerns about body weight and size, fear of weight gain, negativity about fatness, negative body image without body image distortion and preference for less calorically-dense foods

   Adult ARFID: Individuals with avoidant, aversive, or restrictive types of ARFID presentations beyond childhood; may have had similar symptoms since childhood including selective or extremely picky eating, food peculiarities, texture, color or taste aversions related to food.

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