ARFID Statistics & Facts

• ARFID is more common in children and young adolescents and less common in late adolescence and adulthood.¹
• ARFID is often associated with psychiatric co-morbidity, especially with anxious and obsessive compulsive features.¹
• ARFID is more than just “picky eating;” children do not grow out of it and often become malnourished because of the limited variety of foods they will eat.²
• The true prevalence of ARFID is still being studied, but preliminary estimates suggest it may affect as many as 5 percent of children.²
• Boys may have a higher risk for ARFID than girls.²
• 63 percent of pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists were unfamiliar with the diagnosis of ARFID
• Rates of ARFID are between 5% and 14% in pediatric inpatient ED programs and up to 22.5% in a pediatric eating disorder day treatment program.⁴
• Prevalence in the general population is not known.⁴
• ARFID affects more males than females⁵

1. ARFID: Some new twists and some old themes. Ovidio Bermudez, MD, FAAP, FSAHM, FAED, F.iaedp, CEDS. (2016)
2. Norris, M. L., Spettigue, W., & Katzman, D. K. (2016). Update on eating disorders: current perspectives on avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder in children and youth. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 12, 213-218.
3. Canadian Pediatric Surveillance Program
4. Norris, M. L., Spettigue, W., & Katzman, D. K. (2016). Update on eating disorders: current perspectives on avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder in children and youth. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 12, 213-218.
5. Eddy, K. T., Thomas, J. J., Hastings, E. R., Edkins, K., Lamont, E., Nevins, C. M., . . . Becker, A. E. (2015). Prevalence of DSM-5 Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder in a pediatric gastroenterology healthcare network. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 48(5), 464-470.