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ARFID Support

ARFID Support

Understanding Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder

By Logan Strouther

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What is ARFID?

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder is complex and manifests uniquely. Learn about ARFID and what support is available.

What is ARFID

ARFID is a recognised disorder related to difficulties with eating.

It stands for Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. People with ARFID often struggle to eat anything at all, or have a few 'safe foods' that they eat almost exclusively.

This can often lead to malnutrition and sometimes being quite underweight- although, it can also lead to weight gain if safe foods are particularly calorie dense.

Like most eating disorders, there's no one body type that shows ARFID is present, and there's no one personality that results in ARFID either - but there are some people who are more prone to struggling with this aversion to some or all foods. Autistic people are significantly more likely to experience ARFID, and it's also been linked with certain forms of OCD, anxiety, traumas and phobias.

ARFID becomes an issue when it's disrupting your or your child's ability to meet nutritional and energy needs, but you might want to get support if it's impacting self esteem and enjoyment in engaging in the world. This disorder is characterised by an ongoing inability to meet appropriate nutritional and energy needs.

It often involves a lack of interest in eating, avoiding food based on sensory characteristics like texture or smell, or an intense fear of negative consequences from eating, such as choking or vomiting. Unlike other eating disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia, ARFID isn’t related to concerns about body image or weight (World Health Organization 2019).

Clinical Presentations

The Main Presentations of ARFID

ARFID can show up in different ways, and for different reasons. Learn about the types of ARFID we often see.

A picture showing the 5 senses, a picture of an eye, an ear, a mouth, a hand, and a nose

Sensory-Based Avoidance

This subtype is characterised by an aversion to certain foods based on their sensory characteristics, such as texture, taste, smell, or appearance.

Individuals with sensory-based avoidance are often highly sensitive to the sensory properties of food and may reject foods that do not meet their specific preferences. For example, they might avoid foods that are too crunchy, slimy, or have strong flavours or smells (Thomas., et al 2017.

Common Features: Narrow range of accepted foods, often based on specific textures or tastes. Intolerance for trying new foods, leading to a very limited diet. Often linked to sensory processing sensitivity, which may also be present in other areas of life (e.g., sensitivity to noise or fabrics). Commonly seen in individuals with autism spectrum disorder or sensory processing disorder. 

A picture of a white girl with black hair looking disinterested

Lack of Interest

This subtype is characterised by a general lack of interest in eating or food, which leads to inadequate food intake.

Individuals may not experience hunger in the typical way, or they may find the process of eating unappealing or unimportant.

As a result, they may eat only small amounts of food, fail to consume enough calories, and struggle with undernutrition or weight loss (Norris., et al 2014).

Common Features: Low appetite or indifference towards food. Prolonged mealtimes or frequent forgetting to eat. Lack of excitement or pleasure associated with food or eating. Often seen in young children but can persist into adulthood if untreated.  

A cartoon picture of a man running away from a monster or his shadow, intended to represent fear related to ARFID

Fear of Consequences

This subtype is driven by a strong fear of negative consequences associated with eating, such as choking, vomiting, or experiencing allergic reactions.

Individuals may have had a traumatic experience related to eating (e.g., choking incident) or may develop these fears without a clear trigger. As a result, they avoid certain foods or entire food groups to prevent these feared outcomes.

Common Features: 

Anxiety or panic at the thought of eating certain foods.
Avoidance of specific textures, foods, or eating situations that might trigger the feared consequence. 
May lead to significant weight loss or nutritional deficiencies due to the severe restriction of food intake. 
Often associated with co-occurring anxiety disorders.   

What Support is Available?

As knowledge of ARFID is increasing, so are support services, but it's still an under recognised and under supported disorder.

For adults, therapy can be helpful for ARFID. Garden Room Therapy offers specialised ARFID therapy clients 16+. You can also find support through organisations like SYEDA, including group availability.

Therapy for ARFID often involves exploring safe foods, and exploring different experiences of threats in relation to food and eating. A mix of psychoanalysis and encouraging gentle behavioural changes and challenges can be really helpful for people struggling with food restriction related to ARFID.

If your concern around ARFID is for a young child, emerging evidence suggests that support for parents is incredibly useful. Parent's can make really meaningful changes in the way they approach dinnertimes with their young children, and work to begin expanding their child's safe food.

Below, you can find a guide for parents and carers whose children or young people may be experiencing ARFID. Created by our eating disorder specialist Logan Strouther, the guide draws on up to date understandings of how ARFID functions and how we can begin to support children with ARFID, starting at home.
This is a really comprehensive guide to supporting your young person with their eating. 

If you're looking for direct support for ARFID, or 1-2-1 support for parents of children with ARFID, you can contact us here to organise a free chat regarding how we could support you further. 

What Support is Available?

We understand that navigating eating challenges requires tailored, compassionate care. Our dedicated therapy sessions focus on creating a safe, non-judgmental space to explore your relationship with food, develop coping strategies, and foster sustainable healing at your own pace. We can also offer direct support to parents and carer's whose children have ARFID.

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The ARFID Guide

Download our comprehensive, evidence-based roadmap designed to help individuals, parents, and clinicians understand and navigate Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder.

Supporting Resource

The ARFID Guide

A comprehensive guide for parents to support their young person, created by our eating disorder specialist Logan Strouther.

Download Guide

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