Psychiatric Comorbidities Are Common in Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder

Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), a newly recognized disorder in DSM-5 and most frequently diagnosed in children and adolescents, involves avoidant or restrictive eating patterns or a combination of these. The patterns result in weight loss or failure to achieve expected weight gain (but insufficient for an anorexia nervosa diagnosis), nutritional deficiency possibly requiring oral or enteral supplementation, and interference with psychosocial function. Its three core presentations are:

• Sensory sensitivity: avoiding foods due to sensory characteristics (e.g., color, smell)

• Fear of aversive consequences: irrational fears of eating certain foods (not due to religion or culture)

• Lack of interest in food

Few researchers have conduc…