Typical Program Referrals

Typical Referrals to Our Programs:

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID):

This is characterized by a persistent failure to meet appropriate nutritional or energy needs that leads to one or more of the following: significant weight loss, significant nutritional deficiency, dependence on oral nutritional supplements or enteral feeding, and/or marked interference with psychosocial functioning.

Anorexia Nervosa:

This is characterized by an obsessive fear of weight gain, a refusal to maintain a healthy body weight, and, typically but not always, a distorted body image. Symptoms include restricting caloric intake or purging nutrition consumed through vomiting, laxative/diuretic abuse, and/or compulsive exercise.

Bulimia Nervosa:

This is characterized by patterns of bingeing (eating a large amount of food in a small period of time) and purging (a behavior that prevents weight gain by eliminating the calories consumed).

Binge-Eating Disorder:

This is characterized by frequent overeating and feelings of a feeling of being out of control while doing so. These episodes are also associated with eating much more rapidly than normal, eating until feeling uncomfortably full, eating large amounts of food when not physically hungry, eating alone due to embarrassment, and feeling disgusted or guilty afterwards.

ARFID (Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder) :

This newly described diagnosis is categorized by extremely picky eating, often from a very young age. Many but not all with ARFID have co-occurring autistic spectrum disorder, ADHD, or anxiety disorders. Those with ARFID may be overweight, average weight, or underweight. Although many children pass through phases of selective eating, ARFID is distinguished by willingness to go hungry rather than eat foods outside of a restricted repertoire. Body image is usually not affected.

Subtypes include: 1) low appetite or early satiety, often from a young age; 2) sensory aversions (texture, taste, smell, sight) to food resulting in a very narrow food repertoire; 3) sudden weight loss following a choking or vomiting spell, where anxiety around eating is intense enough that food is avoided sometimes completely.

OSFED (Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder) : This is characterized by maladaptive thoughts and behaviors related to food, eating and body image, but who do not meet the criteria for the above-mentioned diagnoses. These symptoms can include over-exercise, body dysmorphia, diabulimia, orthorexia.

Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (includes “disordered eating”): This refers to children or adolescents who have lost significant amounts of weight but workups such as GI (gastrointestinal) evaluations have not yielded a diagnosis.