Understanding ARFID
When food and eating feels overwhelming, difficult and unsafe.
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, or ARFID, is an eating disorder involving a limited range of foods, difficulty eating enough, or both.
It is not driven by concerns about weight or body shape. ARFID can affect children, teenagers and adults, and it can occur at any body size.
You do not need to be certain that it is ARFID before seeking support.
A neurodiversity-affirming approach
My approach looks beyond behaviour and asks what may be making eating difficult.
Restrictive eating is not simply refusal, stubbornness or a lack of motivation. It may communicate sensory pain, fear, nausea, uncertainty, low appetite, depleted capacity or a need for greater predictability and control.
Neurodiversity-affirming care recognises that there is not one correct way to experience, interact with or eat food.
This means we:
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Understand the reason, not just the behaviour
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Protect nourishment
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Reduce unnecessary pressure
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Respect sensory and communication differences
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Use meaningful accommodations
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Support safety, autonomy and participation
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Develop goals collaboratively wherever possible
The goal is not to make someone eat in a more typical way. The goal is safety, nourishment, autonomy and participation.
Affirming care does not mean ignoring nutritional risk, distress or a person's wish for change. It means addressing these concerns without treating compliance or normality as the goal.
You do not need to wait for things to get worse
You may have been told to wait, to stop offering alternatives or to trust that hunger will eventually take over.
But when eating remains difficult or begins to affect nourishment, wellbeing or everyday life, it deserves understanding and support.
Let's begin by understanding what is making eating difficult.
Similar foods, different experiences
Two children can eat exactly the same small range of foods but have completely different reasons for why eating is hard. One child may be overwhelmed by the texture, smell or appearance of food. Another may simply not notice hunger very strongly or may find eating takes a huge amount of effort. Some children are frightened of choking, vomiting or pain. For others, familiar foods may just feel easier and safer for a period of time
A limited food range does not tell us, on its own, why eating is difficult.
This is why we can’t understand a child’s eating simply by looking at what is on their plate. We need to understand what is making eating difficult for that child.
Understanding what is happening beneath the eating behaviour helps us decide what support is needed.
Accommodations are part of treatment
Accommodations reduce barriers and make eating more accessible. They are not giving up, reinforcing the problem or preventing future progress. They may include:
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Reliable access to preferred foods
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Familiar brands, preparation methods or temperatures
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Keeping foods separate
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Consistent presentation
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Advance warning when foods or routines will change
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Predictable meal and snack routines
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Nutritional drinks, supplements or fortification where needed
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Quieter eating spaces
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More time to eat
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Familiar food at school, camp or social events
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Flexibility around where or with whom someone eats
Familiar foods are often preferred because they are predictable. The same brand, texture and preparation can reduce uncertainty and make eating more accessible. When a person is undernourished, anxious or unsure whether safe food will be available, their capacity for flexibility is usually reduced. We do not need to remove safety in order to build capacity. Accommodations can improve nutrition, reduce anxiety, strengthen trust and make everyday participation possible.
Is it selective eating, ARFID or a feeding disorder?
Typical selective,
fussy or picky Eating
Many children go through a period of selective or “fussy” eating, particularly during the early years.
Studies suggest that around 35–50% of children may be described as fussy or selective eaters at some point during childhood, although estimates vary depending on age and how fussy eating is defined.
For many children, this is part of typical development and does not significantly affect their growth, nutritional adequacy or participation in everyday life.
Support can still be helpful at this stage. Early guidance can help families respond in ways that reduce pressure, support positive mealtime experiences and prevent eating difficulties from becoming more entrenched or restrictive over time.
ARFID
ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder) is an eating disorder where difficulty eating or restricting food is persistent and has a significant impact on nutrition, health, growth, wellbeing or everyday life.
ARFID may be driven by sensory differences, low interest in food or eating, fear of something happening when eating such as choking, vomiting or pain, or a combination of these.
ARFID is more than simply being a “fussy eater”. The eating difficulty is significant enough to affect nutritional adequacy, growth or health, reliance on supplements or nutritional support, and/or participation in everyday life.
Paediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD)
Paediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD) describes persistent difficulties with eating or drinking that affect a child’s nutrition, feeding skills, health or participation in everyday life.
It recognises that feeding difficulties may be influenced by medical, nutritional, feeding skill and psychosocial factors, often with sensory and environmental needs also playing a role.
A child does not need to fit neatly into one box before receiving compassionate, individualised support.
My assessment looks at the whole child, including nutrition, growth, medical history, sensory needs and feeding skills. When needed, I refer to trusted professionals including SLTs, OTs, gastroenterologists and paediatricians.
A child does not need to fit neatly into one box before receiving compassionate. individualised.
A person does not need to be underweight for ARFID to be serious or deserving of support.
You do not need to wait until your child loses weight
ARFID is sometimes overlooked because a child is still growing or maintaining their weight. Families may be told it is “just a phase”, that their child will grow out of it, or that hunger will eventually make them eat.
Growth alone does not tell us about nutritional gaps, anxiety, family stress or how much effort is required to keep a child nourished.
A child may still be growing while
also experiencing a very restricted food range, nutritional deficiencies, distress around eating, difficulty eating away from home or increasing reliance on a small number of predictable foods. Not everyone with ARFID shows obvious distress. Some children avoid quietly, eat very slowly or gradually drop previously accepted foods.
A person does not need to be underweight for ARFID to be serious or deserving of support.
You do not need to wait for weight loss. Seeking support early can help clarify what is making eating difficult and identify practical ways to support nourishment, safety and everyday life.
I offer comprehensive feeding and nutrition assessments, including ARFID assessment and diagnosis where the criteria are met. Your concerns will be listened to and taken seriously.
Coming Soon
Parent Group Programmes
Sometimes healing feels easier when you're alongside people who truly understand.
These small-group programmes combine practical strategies, evidence-based guidance and compassionate support in a warm, encouraging environment.
The programme is not centred on teaching parents how to persuade their child to eat.
It helps parents understand what is happening beneath the eating behaviour and create conditions where nourishment, safety and participation are better supported.
Register your interest to be the first to hear when places become available.
AEM: ARFID Empowerment
Group Programme
A compassionate programme for families navigating ARFID, selective eating, sensory differences and food anxiety.
The AEM Parent Group Programme is for parents raising a child with ARFID or significant restrictive eating.
Each family begins with an individual assessment, followed by small-group sessions designed to help you:
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Understand your child’s individual ARFID presentation
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Identify sensory, appetite, fear and capacity-related barriers
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Reduce pressure and build trust
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Support nourishment without removing safety
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Use practical accommodations at home, school and in social settings
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Develop realistic and compassionate goals
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Understand when further individual or multidisciplinary support may be needed
Funding Options
There may be funding available to help cover the cost of appointments, depending on your circumstances.
Private Funding
Individual Funding (NASC)
Private Health Insurance
ACC (Where applicable)
Child Disability Allowance or
Disability Allowance
Not sure what you may be eligible for?
Please get in touch — I'm happy to talk through the options.
Why my approach has changed
When I first began working with children with restrictive eating, I used approaches that encouraged children to engage with unfamiliar foods through games, sensory activities and food play.
The intention was gentle. Activities were presented as fun, with the hope that repeated exposure would reduce anxiety and support a broader range of foods. For some children, this helped.
But I soon realised that it did not help everyone.
For some children, particularly those with sensory, neurodevelopmental or anxiety-related differences, food play did not feel like play. It felt like another demand.
Some children engaged because they wanted the activity to end. Some wanted to please the adults. Others had learned that compliance was the safest or quickest way out of an uncomfortable situation.
For some, repeated attempts to encourage engagement increased anxiety, reduced trust and made food feel even harder. That realisation changed my practice.
I no longer begin by asking, “How can we get this child to engage with food?”
I begin by asking, “What is making eating or food engagement difficult, and what does this person need from us?”
Food exploration can still have a place. But it should be collaborative, meaningful, genuinely optional and within the person’s capacity.
What if food play does not feel like play?
What if food play does not feel like play?Food play is often described as a gentle, low-pressure way to help children become more comfortable around food.
But an activity does not automatically become pressure-free because it is colourful, playful or presented as a game. A child may still feel pressured when:
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There is an unspoken expectation to touch, smell, lick or taste. Participation is expected rather than genuinely optional
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The adult has a hidden goal for the activity
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The child senses disappointment when they do not progress
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The sensory experience is painful or overwhelming
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They must interact with food before leaving or accessing something preferred
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Compliance is interpreted as comfort
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Their body is communicating “no”, but the activity continues
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Avoidance can communicate pain, fear, sensory overwhelm, uncertainty or depleted capacity.
The aim is not to avoid all discomfort forever. It is to make sure that any challenge is collaborative, meaningful and appropriately supported.
ARFID Assessment and Treatment Plan
Comprehensive ARFID assessment and treatment plan for children, teens and adults.
The assessment looks at the full picture, including nutritional health, eating patterns, sensory differences, anxiety, appetite, medical and developmental history,
functional impact and the factors maintaining the difficulty.
You will receive an individualised formulation, clear recommendations
and a practical plan for ongoing support.
