Posts Tagged “ARFID”

For many adults, eating has never felt straightforward.

Certain textures or smells might make you tense up before you even take a bite. Maybe you once choked or got sick after eating something unfamiliar, and food hasn’t felt safe since. Or perhaps you rarely feel hungry at all; eating just feels like something you have to get through.

Over time, you’ve found ways to cope: sticking to a short list of safe foods, keeping meals predictable, checking menus ahead of time, or bringing food you know you can tolerate. These strategies help you get through the day, but they can also be exhausting.

Episode description:

In this episode of Peace Meal, we’re joined by two North Carolina-based Emily Program clinicians, Mem Wood and Elysse Thebner Miller, to talk all things Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, or ARFID.

Mem and Elysse unpack what makes ARFID different from ordinary food preferences, why it can emerge at any age, and how symptoms may affect nutrition, growth, medical stability, and daily life. They describe the three ARFID subtypes, share what treatment actually looks like, and highlight signs that often indicate it’s time to seek support.

This episode also introduces The Emily Program’s new specialized residential and inpatient programming for adults with ARFID in the Raleigh–Durham area—the only dedicated adult program of its kind nationwide.

Episode description:

In this episode of Between Bites, Dr. Jillian Lampert explores Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)—an eating disorder characterized by limited food intake in terms of total volume, variety, or both. Unlike other eating disorders, ARFID isn’t driven by concerns about weight or body image.

Jillian breaks down the three main ways ARFID can present: lack of interest in eating, fear-based avoidance (often after choking or vomiting), and sensory sensitivities that make certain foods feel impossible to approach.

She also discusses how restricted intake affects physical health, growth, and participation in everyday life—and how life transitions like starting school or moving away to college often bring these challenges to the surface. You’ll hear how ARFID is treated, what makes that treatment different from other eating disorder care, and why specialized support can make recovery possible.

Academic excellence can vanish almost overnight when eating disorders take hold. High-achieving students find themselves unable to concentrate, missing classes, and watching their GPAs plummet. The academic consequences extend far beyond temporary setbacks—they can derail entire educational trajectories.

Learn more about eating disorder treatment and school support for teens and families

When a straight-A student suddenly struggles with basic math problems, or a creative writer can’t finish a simple paragraph, the culprit might not be lack of effort. For students with eating disorders, the brain-school connection becomes disrupted in ways that many families don’t expect.

The impact goes far beyond missed meals affecting energy levels. Eating disorders fundamentally alter how the brain processes, stores, and retrieves information—the very functions students need to succeed academically.

Remember: A semester of modified academics is far better than years of struggling through school with an untreated eating disorder.

Learn more about eating disorder treatment and school support for teens and families

Episode description:

In this episode, Dr. Dev Seacrest returns to Peace Meal to reflect on how his evolving understanding of gender, body image, and disability has shaped his recovery from both anorexia and Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). 

Since first joining us in 2020, Dev has gained deeper clarity on how gender dysphoria influenced his relationship with food and body image. He talks about embracing fatness as a trans man, finding support in a men’s body image group, and receiving a revised diagnosis that helped explain his chronic pain and changing mobility needs.

Through these experiences, Dev shares what it means to recover on his own terms—honoring gender identity, disability, and fat embodiment, and building a more peaceful relationship with his body along the way.

This blog was developed with insights from Amy Braverman, MS, LCMHC, Clinical Manager of The Emily Program’s Triangle Outpatient Center in Durham, NC; Kayla Warechowski, Registered Dietitian at our Douglas Residential Treatment Center in Durham, NC; and Sydney Brodeur-Johnson, PhD, LCP, CEDS, Senior Director of The Emily Program’s Clinical Services and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

Most of us have specific food preferences. We might shy away from certain flavors, stick to familiar dishes, or avoid ingredients due to allergies. For many parents, navigating a child’s picky eating feels like a developmental rite of passage.

But what happens when your food preferences become so rigid or limited that they affect your physical or mental health? It might signal the presence of Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, commonly known as ARFID.

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) is a newer eating disorder diagnosis that is not as well-known as conditions like anorexia and bulimia. Once classified as Selective Eating Disorder (SED), ARFID most commonly affects children and young adolescents. Parents often find it challenging to support a child with an eating disorder, especially when the disorder is not widely known or discussed.

In this blog, we will provide an overview of ARFID, its risk factors, warning signs, and helpful ways to support your child affected by this type of eating disorder.