What is ARFID?
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, often simply called ARFID, is more than "picky eating."
It's an eating disorder characterized by highly limited food intake due to sensory sensitivities, fear of negative consequences, or avoidance.
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While many individuals with ARFID may have lower body weights, this disorder affects people across all body types—including those at what might appear to be "normal" weights or in larger bodies.
ARFID occurs across the lifespan and isn't just "picky eating."
While often emerging in childhood, ARFID can persist into or begin during adulthood, and involves restrictions severe enough to cause medical or psychosocial problems.
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ARFID isn't about weight concerns or body image.
Unlike other eating disorders, ARFID involves food avoidance based on sensory properties, feared consequences of eating, or low appetite rather than weight or shape concerns.
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Sensory processing differences play a significant role.
Many individuals with ARFID experience heightened sensitivity to taste, texture, smell, appearance, or temperature of foods, making certain foods genuinely intolerable.
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Signs of ARFID across diverse populations
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Across all demographics, physical symptoms like malnutrition, significant weight loss (or failure to gain expected weight in children), vitamin deficiencies, gastrointestinal problems, and compromised immune function are common warning signs of ARFID alongside the following psychological and behavioral components:
Kids & Teens
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Extreme food selectivity based on color, texture, or brand
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Gagging or vomiting when presented with feared foods
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Growth faltering or delayed development compared to peers
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Anxiety or distress at mealtimes, parties, or school lunches
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Reliance on nutritional supplements to meet basic needs
Services for different care needs
At Mindfullness, we offer a range of ARFID recovery services to help you or your loved one take the first step toward healing:
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One-on-one therapy: You or your loved one will work with a therapist experienced in treating ARFID. The goal is to help you or your loved one build a positive relationship with food and begin to heal in a supportive, understanding environment.
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Family therapy: Eating disorders affect the whole family, even if that family doesn't share DNA. These sessions help loved ones learn how to best offer support, open the lines of communication and work together toward recovery.
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Intuitive eating: Following weight stabilization and normalized eating, you or your loved one will learn skills to reconnect and honor natural hunger cues.
What you can expect from us
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A safe, compassionate space where your child can feel heard and understood​
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Collaborative care where we work together to understand their unique needs​
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Behavioral strategies to address disordered habits and encourage healthy patterns​​
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A focus on building self-esteem and fostering a positive body image
Other eating disorders that we treat
Recurring episodes of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors.
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Recurrent episodes of consuming large amounts of food with out compensatory behaviors but with a sense of loss of control.
Mindfullness also specializes in general body image concerns, creating individualized paths toward body neutrality and acceptance.​​ Contact us now to learn more.