Health and Wellbeing
ARFID: What It Is, How to Spot it & How to Support
Tell ARFID apart from fussy eating, and help a child who eats very few foods feel safer at mealtimes, at home and at school.
- 1 hour 9 minutes
- Recorded webinar
- Certificate
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What you'll learn
- Recognise signs that a child's restricted eating may be ARFID rather than fussiness
- Work out which of the three main drivers of ARFID fits a child
- Keep a preferred food at every meal while gently introducing new ones
- Use food chaining to move from familiar foods in small steps
- Adapt lunchtimes, school trips and routines for a child with ARFID
About this course
A child who eats only beige food, or only one brand of chicken nugget, or nothing at all during the school day, often gets called a fussy eater. Sometimes it's ARFID (avoidant restrictive food intake disorder), a diagnosis that has only existed since 2013 and is still widely misunderstood.
A clinical psychologist from a hospital feeding and eating disorder service explains what drives it: little interest in food, strong reactions to smell or texture, or fear of choking or being sick. Knowing which applies changes what helps. You'll learn small steps that take the pressure off, like always having a preferred food on the plate, a tasting bowl on the side, and food chaining from one familiar food to the next.
For schools there are simple changes too, like a quieter place to eat at lunch or letting a child bring their own cutlery.
Recording
Open in order
- 52 min
Webinar Playback
- 19 min
Q&A