6 Reasons Why Arfid Is Not To Be Mistaken For Picky Eating
There are many different kinds of eating disorders. Some are alike, while others are completely unique in how they take over your life. If you know a picky eater, here are a few things to look out for.
1. Phases
Both adults and children picky eaters go through normal social phases. Kids tend to prefer junk food while what an adult consumes is based on their current diet. Both of these things have a random shelf life, and that can often lead to people confusing picky eating with ARFID. With popular diets popping up daily, it can be difficult to know whether there is an actual eating disorder present. The easiest identifier is that picky eating goes away with time, while ARFID tends to get worse the longer it is untreated.
2. Weight Loss
Anorexia is a well-known eating disorder that is based off of the sufferers’ own body image. Their disorder revolves around maintaining an unrealistic weight regardless of personal health. For ARFID, there is no distorted self-image that is the driving force. Instead, sufferers of ARFID will avoid specific foods due to unsubstantiated fears.
3. It Isn’t Age Dependent
Age has no bearing on whether a person can get this condition. Although children are of high concern in the ARFID category, the bigger concern is when it is mistaken for an eating disorder. Image positivity is hard on young children, and will often lead to mood swings. Without a proper ARFID diagnosis as a child, the condition worsens over time into adulthood.
4. Genetics
In some cases, genetics are a bigger factor than the environment. A good example of this is a high stress job causing your diet to completely change out of necessity. For some people, this is a short-term change that has the possibility to develop into other bad habits. For others that have a history of ARFID in their family, both ARFID and other eating disorders have a higher chance of occurring. Since there are many variables when genetics are involved, diagnosing the correct eating disorder becomes even more important.
5. Culture
In cultures where thin body types are preferred, eating disorders are more common. But the red flag here is when this common value mistakes anorexia with ARFID. While anorexia is born from a fear of weight gain, ARFID becomes a normalized way of life – to the point where the sufferer is identified as a picky eater. Over time, medical complications will lead to a lot of stressful decisions.
6. Mental Ties
This is one of the more confusing parts of all eating disorders. The mental side of the disorder is equally impactful as its physical counterpart. Mood disorders in particular can change how you eat, or the frequency each day. Depression can even make a person lose their appetite for days! In order to separate a regular eating disorder from ARFID, professionals have to determine the level of food avoidance. This is based on several factors including the current mental, and physical health of the patient.
Finding A Balance
ARFID is not an eating preference and should instead be treated as a disorder. For anyone suffering from an eating disorder, finding the signs will come long before a solution. Children need help, and parents are the first line of defense to accomplishing that goal.
