ARFID is the acronym for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, a pretty serious eating disorder that affects children of all ages. One characteristic that is quite dissimilar from other eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia is not involving anxiety over body image and/or weight. It is instead characterized by extreme restriction of intake, often because of an aversion to some foods, their texture, smells, or a lack of interest in food. People with ARFID may not get all the necessary nutrition from the diet that they eat, thus leading to several health problems. Let’s discuss what is ARFID is, how it affects eating, symptoms, causes, and treatment.
What is ARFID?
ARFID is a type of eating disorder where there are very insufficient food intakes. Such can occur through a selective dietary restriction, either by avoidance of certain foods or even by consuming an extremely limited variety of food. This can occur because of sensory aversions, like the avoidance of certain textures or smells, or due to an overall lack of interest in food. It may also be related to a traumatic food-related experience such as choking or vomiting. Unlike other eating disorders, however, the perception of body image is not changed in those what is ARFID. Their food avoidance does not come about due to an interest in losing weight but for other reasons.
Expression of ARFID
The manifestations of ARFID may vary. Most people have the manifestations of extreme aversion to certain types of foods or categories, making them have a very minimal diet. Among the usual symptoms and manifestations of ARFID, they are as follows:
Very fussy eating: People with ARFID tend to be resistant to the consumption of certain foods based on their appearance, smell, color, or taste. They would deny consuming food that possesses any of these qualities: soft, slimy, or very strong in flavor.
Fear of Choking or Vomiting:
Someone may be fearful of choking or vomiting while trying to eat and then becomes very choosy of what she is willing to eat in a bid to avoid experiencing it.
Because their diet is very much restricted, the important nutrient deficiencies in individuals with ARFID include vitamins, minerals, and protein, which causes weight loss or poor growth, especially in children.
Loss of Appetite in Food:
Some children may lose complete interest in food. They do not feel hungry, even after several hours without food intake.
Emotional Stress:
Avoiding food leads to emotional and anxiety disorders. ARFID may also bring emotional stress in meals because avoiding meals due to embarrassment or discomfort about the fears of eating in public might have been the reason.
The exact causes of ARFID are unknown, though several things may contribute to its development. These include:
Sensory Sensitivities:
Some children with ARFID tend to be very sensitive to the sensory qualities of food, such as texture, taste, smell, or appearance. Such sensitivities can make them avoid food they feel is inappropriate and sometimes overwhelming.
Negative Food Experience:
Maybe a sour bad experience through food that made the child develop ARFID. For instance, a near-choking situation or vomiting or any food allergy. The children might have created a mindset that eating hurts and is harmful, thus completely avoiding food.Sometimes it contributes from underlying health conditions, especially to other GI illnesses. Some digestive health disorders such as acid reflux disease might make eating painful or cause discomfort in the process that may lead to food aversion.
Psychological Factor:
Sometimes, ARFID may be associated with depression, anxiety, or another mental illness. Stress in the early childhood period can enhance the chances of developing the disorder.
How ARFID Affects Eating Habits
In so many ways, ARFID affects a person’s eating pattern. These people have an eating behavior that is minimal, hence low nutrition intake. The low levels of the necessary nutrients will reduce a child’s growth and development and cause overall bad health. In the long term, the eating patterns lead to weight loss, weakness, and immunodeficiency.
Such issues lead to serious conditions in which the body is weakened to digest or breakdown food causing problems in gut health. The reduced health of the digestive system is bound to cause stomach pains and bloating amongst other discomforts, that will further keep people suffering from ARFID away from eating. Treatment of such habits is that people will continue with such conditions that lead to physical and mental health problems.
Treatment of ARFID
ARFID is treated by combining therapies that target its causative factors that might eventually lead the individual to have healthy eating habits. Some of such treatments include:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy:
CBT is the most common treatment that is administered to a child with ARFID. This therapy can help identify and change the negative thought patterns surrounding food and eating. Through treating the thoughts, CBT lowers anxiety or fear over food.
Exposure Therapy
This technique habituates an individual to gradually accept new foods or textures until they become less sensitive toward them. It can be time-consuming, but proper guidance during exposure therapy can help individuals extend their food repertoire.
Nutritional counseling:
This is the process in which a dietitian or nutritionist interacts with patients to design an appropriate dietary plan that enables them to have all the nutrients that promote health. It has the incorporation of new foods in a non-threatening way.
Medical Care:
The individual might also require medical attention to correct nutritional inadequacy or digestive problems. Medications and supplements can be prescribed by the doctors to restore body chemistry.
Family Based Therapy:
Family-based therapy can be helpful for children with ARFID. Parents and caregivers could be educated on strategies that promote healthy eating and a supporting meal environment.
Another complicated eating disorder is ARFID, in which eating patterns affect many ways. People suffering from ARFID are often afraid of food through sensitivity to their senses or even the threat of chocking or vomiting. For others, there might be little interest in food. Due to such types of eating habits, people suffer from malnutrition, weight loss, or even digestive disorders. But proper treatment, in the form of therapy, nutritional counseling, and medical support, may ameliorate their eating habits, as well as the healthiness of people suffering from ARFID. And whenever you or any other person suffers from ARFID ensure taking help from a healthcare practitioner to address this condition and what it would do to his overall health.
