ARFID Team – Find Out More About It!

ARFID syndrome is a mental health disorder. Basically, when a person has this disorder, their regular diet does not include a healthy variety of foods and refuses to introduce new elements.

In order to be diagnosed with this syndrome, a patient needs to eat a total of less than ten different foods in the entire diet for at least two years.

If these criteria are met, we will face this strange pathology. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines it as a disease with the official name of ” Avoidant / Restrictive Food Intake Disorder ” (ARFID).

Let’s go deeper into it

ARFID syndrome and association with other disorders

The ARFID syndrome can be a gateway to other eating disorders, such as:

• Anorexia : weight loss caused by a patient, even when initially low in weight. This is because of an excessive fear of weight gain.

• Bulimia nervosa : a consequence of an impulsive behavior known as binge eating, in which you ingest large amounts of food in a short time and then pass it out through unnatural mechanisms such as making you vomit.
• Orthorexia : obsession with consuming only foods that the patient deems healthy, on an irrational level. In other words, the person is overly concerned about what he eats.
• Vigorexia : a pathological obsession with maintaining a muscular body. To achieve this, people who suffer from it do too much exercise and change their diets in extreme ways.

Who is affected by the ARFID syndrome

While the disorder can occur at any stage in life and affect anyone, it usually affects two specific groups of the population.

The two groups most affected are children and athletes. Let’s take a closer look at each of these groups.

Children and the ARFID syndrome

ARFID syndrome often occurs during childhood. It occurs in about 15% of children under 6 years of age.

Parents know that it is difficult for children to incorporate new foods into their diet. In children there is something what is called neophobia nutrition : the fear of trying out new menu items.

Considering that, according to a study by the University of the Basque Country (Spain), this usually happens between the ages of two and six and is normal: it is part of the growth and development process. Adults should understand that this is normal in preschool.

However, when the child goes to the extreme, we can talk about the ARFID syndrome. It is estimated that about 15% of children under the age of 6 suffer from it, and they are usually more often girls than boys. There are approximately four girls for every boy with this syndrome.

Moreover, the long-term problem is that it may become permanent in adulthood. Often times, parents persistently add foods in a counter-productive way, and children enter an anxiety cycle that further stimulates the disorder.

The presence of selective eating syndrome in childhood is associated with certain personality traits that persist into adulthood:

• Social fear
• Inability to adapt to changes,
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder,
• Anxiety.

Athletes and the ARFID team

When people who play sports become professionals or do them more and more, there is a risk of them becoming obsessed. This obsession can become apparent during the preparation of the diet, especially if the athlete just wants to increase the volume of his muscles or maximize their performance.

Often they don’t even think about the price that comes with taking their bodies to these extremes. Protein -only menus are common, as well as a chicken and tuna diet in three daily meals alternating with noodles.

This small variety forces the body to metabolic work in unusual ways. This is harmful in the long run and can cause metabolic diseases that will become apparent over the years.

There is a risk of the athlete’s diet becoming too selective. This, in turn, leads to medium to long-term health consequences.

Consequences

The lack of nutrients is especially serious for the human body. Undoubtedly, macronutrients and micronutrients are essential for the functioning, development, growth and repair of the body’s cells and tissues.

According to nurse Carmen Carrera of the Virgen del Rocio University Hospital in Seville, Spain, minimal deficiencies can affect the healing process. In adolescent children, this may not necessarily be a disturbingly low weight, but a deficiency may be associated with short stature.

Moreover, according to the research of the Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery in Havana (Cuba) , the nervous system of children is undoubtedly and particularly sensitive to this disease. There can be a significant difference in IQ between children who suffer from the syndrome and those who do not. Of course, this affects school performance.

The social interference that this disorder has is also not great. People with ARFID avoid going to social events where you can eat (such as birthdays).

They know they will be exposed in such situations. For this reason, they are increasingly withdrawn and spend more time alone, which makes it difficult to get outside help.

Be sure to ask for help from a psychologist

When a person suffers from this syndrome, the good intentions of loved ones are not enough to change the diet. They are likely to fail if proper advice is not given.

Overall, it is a mental health issue and as such requires specialists in the field. In many cases, it is a combination of disorders, so it is necessary to consult a psychologist or psychiatrist to characterize the situation.