#arfid

[semtitulo]

who else has fantasized about the Nutrient Brick

[demento-mori]

eating would be fine if it was only a recreational activity. instead, its a horrible sisiphean nightmare and you need to do it every day without fail on threat of pain and death

[augmentedpolls]

What’s your score on the picky eater test? (Number of foods on the list you will not eat)

0 (wow!)

1-5

6-10

11-15

16-20

21-25

26-30

31-35

36-40

41+

Results

Voting ended onSep 11, 2025

[vexcite]

no i will not try the food again. yes ive tried it before and did not like it. no i will not get used to the taste if i keep trying it. no just because most people like it doesnt mean i have to. i will eat the foods I know i like and stay happy with those

[princessmo]

saying this as someone who has it but having ARFID is sooooo embarrassing especially when meeting new people. hi yeah i have an eating disorder no it's not one of the body image ones. yeah my brain arbitrarily decides whether food is Good or Bad or Contaminated or Other. yeah i don't eat vegetables yes it's juvenile no i can't change it. i swear to god i'm not doing it for attention even though it sounds like complete bullshit. sometimes i just Cant eat stuff. yes it frustrates me too

[hazedxg0]

While I am glad that ARFID has been getting more awareness recently, it really does bother me when people claim that it's something only autistic people have or when they call it the "sensory issues eating disorder".

Because while ARFID certainly can present that way, by definition it's just any clinically significant restrictive eating or feeding disturbance that isn't body image based. It also commonly presents as:

Lack of interest in food or eating—such as a result of major depressive disorder, schizoid personality disorder, the negative symptoms of schizophrenia spectrum disorders, dissociative disorders, etc

Avoidance of specific foods that are PTSD triggers, or of eating as a whole due to traumatic events that happened around mealtimes or in kitchens or dining rooms

Avoiding food due to phobias surrounding vomiting, choking, allergic reactions, etc

Avoiding food due to OCD surrounding due to magical thinking around the consequences of eating (i.e. fearing that a loved one will die if you eat a specific food), obsessions surrounding poisoning or allergic reactions, or food restriction as a compulsion

Avoiding food as a result of delusions or paranoia in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, paranoid personality disorder, etc

And so on. Of course AFRID as a result of autism and sensory processing disorder deserve awareness as well, but it would be great if people could develop a more holistic view of the different ways ARFID can present instead of just calling it "the autism eating disorder".

[nodietedrecovery]

Image ID: three screenshots of social media posts by @thenutritiontea on facebook.

1st image: "When I think about processed foods I think about how I work with families in public health and many kids have food sensory sensitivities and foods that are processed are their safe foods. I think about how parents are so scared because they read hit pieces about processed foods and think they are wrong for figuring out how to feed their child so their child grows and lives. I also think about how I work with kids and get them to try new fresh foods as well that many of them are scared to try."

2nd image: "True story - a parent was almost in tears today because her child has sensory difficulties and cannot eat fresh fruits and vegetables. We tried giving him a piece of banana and he expelled it right away crying (no he's not allergic).

"I want her to know and to remember that she's doing a great job. She's giving him packaged food in order to feed him and nourish him. This is more than okay because we are all individual and food affects us differently."

3rd image: "This is why I talk about packaged and convenience foods so much. We like to demonize them and list the ways they're harmful instead of highlighting how helpful they are to many. If you also have certain circumstances where you rely on convenience foods, I want you to know that's okay."

[genderkoolaid]

as someone with ARFID i really couldn't care less about the distinction between "picky eaters" and "genuine eating issues." if you are an asshole to someone you see as "just picky" i will never, ever trust you. i've lived through the trauma of being shamed and humiliated for my eating needs.

frankly i think a LOT of "picky eaters" have some kind of sensory problems– autistic or allistic– and shame is never useful. i don't fucking care how annoying you think we are. if you've never lived through the humiliation of being the only one not eating at a dinner table, or having to choke down something disgusting you already know you hate because other people insist you don't know your own body, or getting a hunger migraine in a house full of food because none of its edible to you? you don't understand how awful it is to have food issues.

whenever i see people draw this distinction between being "just a picky eater" and "having a real problem" all i think is, who does this serve? most people don't even know ARFID exists. there are so many undiagnosed autistics, or just people with a variety of issues that aren't officially diagnosed. why do we need a medical label in order to be treated with respect and compassion? why did i need to be diagnosed as autistic for my family to realize the abuse they put me through for years because of my eating habits?

it's such an easy habit for neglected groups to fall into– the idea that a medical diagnosis can save us. that by appealing to the medical/psychiatric industry, we can be protected from abuse and given basic respect and resources. but the truth is that it should never have come to this in the first place. dignity doesn't come from an abled doctor telling you that there's a medical reason for your symptoms. it comes from being a person. once you accept that you need a Good Reason to have your needs respected, you doom yourself to neglecting and abusing those who have your same struggles because they aren't lucky enough to access medical recognition.

tl;dr solidarity with all "picky eaters" stop guilting people for having varying food needs, if we make you irrationally angry that's YOUR problem not ours, and abolish "children's menus" & replace them with simple-food / small-portion menus for people of all ages