25/11/2025
Did you know that we also work with individuals who suffer from ARFID?
The word ARFID stands for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. This is a serious eating disorder characterized by a persistent failure to meet appropriate nutritional or energy needs.
Unlike other eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, ARFID is not driven by concerns about body shape, weight, or a desire for thinness.
The eating problems in ARFID stem from other factors, which can include:
* Sensory sensitivity: an aversion to certain food characteristics such as texture, smell, taste, appearance, or temperature.
* Fear of aversive consequences: anxiety about potential negative outcomes from eating, such as choking, vomiting, or experiencing stomach pain, often following a past distressing experience.
* Lack of interest in eating: having a general poor appetite, not recognizing hunger cues, or perceiving eating as a chore.
With our knowledge, training and experience we deliver bespoke sessions for individuals who struggle to be around food.
Over time, some of the children we work with do begin to taste and experience different food items. This is because we take on a nurturing approach with no demands to eat or touch anything they don’t want to.
Just like all our other sessions we get to know the children and ways in which we can work in the most effective ways with them. We empower their learning and make them feel valued and listen to their concerns.
Everything we do is the learning through play method, it’s fun, interactive and as hands on (or off) as they want it to be.
Our ARFID sessions are around 12-16 weeks so that we can take our time and work at the child’s pace, on a 1:1 level.
I’ve been working with a young boy for a while now and wow, I’m so proud of him. Each week he’s slowly tasting little bits of food that he’s never had before.
We always make sure that parent/carer consent forms are filled in when it’s comes to allergies just to make sure that we are promoting safe environments at all times.
If you haven’t heard of Natasha’s Law then I urge you to do so when working with food and make sure that you have your own policies and procedures in place.
This is a photo of our activity today. He now absolutely loves baking and most of all having a taste of some of the resources!
