ARFID, or Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, is a type of eating disorder in which the individual limits the quantity or variety of food that they have every day. Now, most children are selective eaters and will always prefer eating sweets over green leafy vegetables. However, the problem arises when they only eat certain types of food and avoid everything else, which in turn hampers their health.
Children during their growing years require a balanced diet to develop physically and mentally. So, when your child is suffering from ARFID, they are deprived of all the nutrition they need in order to grow up as healthy adults. Hence, it is important to consult with an ARFID treatment center if you think the situation is getting out of hand. Numerous facilities, such as the Kahm Center ARFID care, treat adults and children with eating disorders and ensure they build a healthy relationship with food. If you suspect that your child has ARFID, refer to the article below to identify the common symptoms.
Symptoms of ARFID:
Most doctors refer to ARFID as a selective eating disorder in which the child has extreme aversion towards a particular group of food due to fear of choking or throwing up. In other cases, the child might not want to eat any other food items because they simply just don’t want to. Moreover, they might also not want to eat a particular group of foods because they don’t like the texture, color, or smell. Additionally, if your child is suffering from ARFID, they will also eat food in a particular order and will be very specific about it.
It is difficult to determine the main cause of ARFID as some children are sensitive to certain foods, textures, or smells at birth, or they may have had a bad experience with that particular food. Also, the environment in which a child grows up greatly influences their eating habits. Children who grow up with picky eater parents are most likely to develop an eating disorder.
How is ARFID Diagnosed?
If you suspect that your child has ARFID, the therapist will look for reasons why they are not eating as much as they should to identify the underlying cause of the eating disorder. Moreover, they will check whether the child is rapidly losing weight. If yes, they will try to find out why they are not gaining weight or growing at the pace they should. Problems such as mental health issues or difficulty eating in a public setting are also one of the signs of ARFID. Once the therapist is sure that your child is suffering from ARFID, they will introduce different therapies, which are discussed in the following subheading.
Therapies Used in ARFID:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT):
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a psychotherapy that deals with mental conditioning and tries to change the way your child thinks about certain foods. In this therapy, the child is encouraged and praised for acceptable behavior and discouraged for unacceptable behavior, which helps the child identify their distorted patterns, change their mindset, and ultimately reform their behavior.
Family-based therapy:
In FBT, the entire family is treated as one unit that is battling to cure the eating disorder of the child. Rather than blaming the family for the child’s distorted relationship with food, the therapist recognizes that the entire family is battling this eating disorder and encourages the participation of the entire family in curing the ailment.
Speech therapy:
Speech therapy is used to cure issues such as problems swallowing food caused by food aversion. This therapy aims to make swallowing easy for the child through techniques such as pre-chaining, food chaining, and feeding programs.
Conclusion:
Most kids are picky eaters, and there is nothing to be concerned about if they prefer eating a chocolate bar over some boiled vegetables. However, if their eating habits are hampering their growth and you suspect something unusual, it is best to consult a therapist.
Most therapists use research-based techniques to build a healthy relationship with food. Moreover, their therapy programs are personalized based on your child’s needs, which helps develop life-long healthy eating habits.
