The Silent Eating Disorder! What experts want you to know about ARFID
2024-09-29 17:58:25
TiranaPost
When Hannah was 7, she told her parents she didn't want to be afraid of food anymore.
She did not want to go to birthday parties, restaurants, family celebrations and even the dinner table. Food was everywhere and it gave her a lot of anxiety, said her mother, Michelle.
Hannah had a list of about five foods she would eat, and they were specific.
Now 8 years old, Hannah is being treated for Avoidant/Restrictive Eating Disorder, or ARFID. Unlike eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia nervosa, this diagnosis isn't about body shape or size, said Kate Dansie, clinical director of the Eating Disorders Center in Rockville, Maryland.
Instead, people with ARFID are very limited in the foods they feel safe and comfortable eating, Dansie said. Rather than just being "picky," this disorder can be debilitating and cause long-term health problems.
In some cases, people with ARFID have had a traumatic experience with food, such as choking, which causes increased vigilance with eating. Other times, people with this condition seem to have a low desire to eat and high anxiety around food.
