NOSEmily (10) has ARFID and is being treated for it
NOS Nieuws•gisteren, 20:52
It is a less well-known eating disorder than, for example, anorexia or bulimia. Yet it is estimated that around 3 percent of Dutch children and 1 percent of adults struggle with it: Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). This disorder is central to this year’s Eating Disorder Awareness Weekwhich runs until tomorrow.
With ARFID, people have an irrational fear of eating certain foods, for example because they are afraid of vomiting or choking. Or they avoid foods with a certain texture. The disorder has been internationally recognized since 2013, but is still relatively unknown, says Eric Dumont, head of treatment at SeysCentra, an expertise center for children with eating problems.
According to him, there is There is still too little knowledge about ARFID among general practitioners and in the hospital world. “It’s a long road for kids to come to us.”
Emily (10) suffers from ARFID and is being treated for:
Emily (10) has the eating disorder ARFID
Dumont believes it is important that the disorder is recognized earlier. Because if children or adults are not treated for this, there is a good chance that they will continue to have problems with eating. “And if you continue to eat selectively, you will also have problems due to a lack of vitamins and nutrients.”
Sandra Mulkens, professor of nutrition and eating disorders at Maastricht University, also believes that ARFID should be diagnosed earlier. Since her appointment as professor in 2018, she has been trying to increase awareness of ARFID.
“I, but also colleagues at SeysCentra, colleagues at the university and foreign colleagues, do a lot of research into it and train many people. And within the national chain approach to eating disorders, which is funded by the Ministry of Health, it is a hot item.”
In addition, e-learning and webinars have been developed in recent years that help doctors recognize ARFID. But the knowledge needs to be improved, says Mulkens. “It always takes a relatively long time before new insights are put into practice.”
ARFID in autism
SeysCentra is currently the only expertise center in the Netherlands in the field of ARFID. Children from all over the country are treated here, and the waiting lists are long, says Dumont. “In Utrecht the waiting time is up to two years.”
But not everyone who ends up here actually has ARFID. Sometimes an eating disorder has a different background, says Dumont. “At Seys we have a measuring instrument that helps with the diagnosis.”
It is striking that children with autism have ARFID more often than children without autism. At Seys, a quarter of the children who receive treatment also have autism.
Remove threat
If someone is found to have ARFID, treatment is started with the help of dieticians, pediatricians and psychologists. According to Dumont, the core of the treatment is behavioral therapy. “The goal is to eliminate the threat of nutrition.”
To achieve this, the specialists work with so-called ‘eating sessions’, but they also discuss eating problems. “We want to investigate why someone has difficulty with it.”
Last year, 170 children between the ages of 2 and 18 were treated at Seys. “With 70 percent you can say that they have gotten rid of it,” says Dumont. “The other 30 percent often also comes, with help and support from parents.”
2024-03-02 19:52:31
#ARFID #lesserknown #eating #disorder #affects #children
