Selective eating (SE) refers to an individual narrowing their range of preferred foods, resulting in a restricted food intake, high levels of rigidity and food refusal (Bryant-Waugh, 2000). SE is encompassed in the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th Edition (DSM-V) (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) category avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). Such difficulties are common in children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (Raiten & Massaro, 1986) and neuropsychological differences have been found in children with ASD (Hill, 2004). This research aimed to be the first to investigate whether a distinct neuropsychological profile exists in children and adolescents with SE and furthermore, whether aspects of the profile vary depending on whether the child or adolescent displays elevated autistic traits. A case series of 10 children between the ages of 8 to 13 years old were recruited. A well-established neuropsychological test battery, the Ravello Profile (Rose, Frampton & Lask, 2012), was modified and administered to assess visuospatial processing, central coherence, executive functions (including cognitive flexibility, inhibition and planning) and theory of mind abilities. The results demonstrated a high degree of variability across the group in terms of visuospatial processing and theory of mind, weak central coherence across all participants and otherwise relatively intact abilities in executive function domains. There were no substantive findings in relation to those children with elevated autistic traits although a trend toward visuospatial processing differences did emerge. This exploratory case series was the first attempt to describe a neuropsychological profile in SE, however the small sample size and high variability in the data meant that a distinct neuropsychological profile did not emerge. The results did however provide an initial indication of possible trends in strengths and weaknesses across neuropsychological domains in SE. These findings have implications for the assessment and treatment of SE difficulties.

Objective: Although patients with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) often consult general pediatric services initially, existing literature mostly concentrated on ntensive eating disorder treatment settings. This cross-sectional study sought to describe symptoms of ARFID and their associations with eating disorder psychopathology, quality of life, anthropometry, and physical comorbidities in a general pediatric sample. Methods: In N = 111 patients (8-18 years) seeking treatment for physical diseases, prevalence of ARFID-related restrictive eating behaviors was estimated by self-report and compared to population-based data (N = 799). Using self-report and medical record data, further ARFID diagnostic criteria were evaluated. Patients with versus without symptoms of ARFID based on self-report and medical records were compared in diverse clinical variables. Results: The prevalence of self-reported symptoms of ARFID was not higher in the inpatient than population-based sample. Only picky eating and shape concern were more common in the inpatient than population-based sample. Although 69% of the inpatient sample reported any restrictive eating behaviors, only 7.2% of patients showed symptoms of ARFID based on medical records in addition to self-report, particularly those with underweight, without significant effects for age, sex, and medical diagnoses. Discussion: The study revealed the importance of considering ARFID within the treatment of children and adolescents with physical diseases, especially for those with underweight. Further research is needed to replicate the findings with interview-based measures and to investigate the direction of effects in ARFID and its physical correlates.

No description available.

Although restrictive eating behaviors are very common during early childhood, their precise nature and clinical correlates remain unclear. Especially, there is little evidence on restrictive eating behaviors in older children and their associations with children's shape concern. The present population-based study sought to delineate subgroups of restrictive eating patterns in N = 799 7-14 year old children. Using Latent Class Analysis, children were classified based on six restrictive eating behaviors (for example, picky eating, food neophobia, and eating-related anxiety) and shape concern, separately in three age groups. For cluster validation, sociodemographic and objective anthropometric data, parental feeding practices, and general and eating disorder psychopathology were used. The results showed a 3-cluster solution across all age groups: an asymptomatic class (Cluster 1), a class with restrictive eating behaviors without shape concern (Cluster 2), and a class showing restrictive eating behaviors with prominent shape concern (Cluster 3). The clusters differed in all variables used for validation. Particularly, the proportion of children with symptoms of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder was greater in Cluster 2 than Clusters 1 and 3. The study underlined the importance of considering shape concern to distinguish between different phenotypes of children's restrictive eating patterns. Longitudinal data are needed to evaluate the clusters' predictive effects on children's growth and development of clinical eating disorders.

Bakgrund: När barn vid 6 månader introduceras till fastare föda kan matvägran uppstå. En svårare variant av matvägran ger skäl till diagnosen Selektiv Ätovilja (SÄ) eller Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). Både vården och föräldrarna har en betydande roll i barnets behandling vid SÄ eller ARFID. Motiv: Då ARFID är en relativt ny diagnos är det rådande kunskapsläget om sjukdomen bristande, vilket påverkar föräldrarnas möte med vården. Studier om olika perspektiv på ätovilja är av stor vikt för att förbättra mötet mellan föräldrar och vårdpersonal. Syfte: Syftet med föreliggande studie var att belysa erfarenheter av mötet med sjukvården beskrivet av föräldrar till barn med selektiv ätovilja (ARFID). Metod: Föreliggande studie genomfördes med hjälp av 8 enskilda semistrukturerade intervjuer med föräldrar till barn med ARFID. Deltagarna rekryterades via en sluten Facebookgrupp och intervjuerna skedde digitalt via Zoom. Under intervjuerna användes en intervjuguide som testats i en pilotintervju. Intervjuerna transkriberades ordagrant varvid texten analyserades med hjälp av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Analysen resulterade i 3 kategorier och 6 underkategorier. Resultat: Föreliggande studie visade att föräldrarnas erfarenheter handlade om personalens kunskap, professionellt bemötande och föräldrarnas känsla av att befinna sig i en gråzon. Personalens kunskap var i överlag bristande och föräldrarna fick därför söka kunskap på egen hand. Föräldrarna bemöttes med nonchalans och bristande förståelse. Känslan av att befinna sig i en gråzon handlade om att föräldrarna upplevde att de hamnade mellan stolarna och fick kämpa för god vård. Konklusion: Föräldrarnas erfarenheter om vårdpersonalens kunskapsbrist om ARFID var central i intervjuerna. En ökad kunskap bland vårdpersonal kommer att främja föräldrarnas tillgång till hjälp, stöd, förståelse och verktyg att hjälpa barnet. En instans behövs för att förbättra vården av barn med ARFID. / Background: A child is introduced to more solid foods around 6 months of age, which is when food aversion can arise. A more severe food aversion might give cause for considering Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). Both healthcare staff and parents of children with ARFID have significant roles in the child’s treatment. Motive: Since ARFID is a relatively new diagnosis, the available expertise is limited, particularly when parents meet with healthcare staff. Studies focused on various perspectives surrounding food intake disorders are of great importance when improving the meeting between parents and healthcare professionals. Aim: This study aimed to illuminate the experiences of the meeting with healthcare professionals as described by parents of children with ARFID. Methods: The study was conducted using 8 semistructured interviews with parents of children with ARFID. The participants were located and selected using a private Facebook group, and the interviews took place digitally via Zoom. The questions asked had previously been tested through a pilot interview. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, then analysed using qualitative content analysis. This resulted in 3 categories and 6 subcategories. Result: The results showed that the parents’ experiences were about the expertise demonstrated by healthcare staff, professional treatment, and the parents’ sense of being stuck in a grey area. Healthcare professionals lacked the necessary expertise, and parents were forced to seek information elsewhere. Parents faced negligence and a lack of understanding from healthcare staff. They also felt like they were in a grey area and had to fight for their child to receive fair treatment. Conclusion: The lack of expertise was central throughout the study. With increased knowledge, healthcare professionals could give parents better help, support, understanding, and tools. A clinic to receive children with ARFID is needed.

Objective: This study sought to determine the factor structure of the newly developed self-report screening questionnaire Eating Disturbances in Youth-Questionnaire (EDY-Q) as well as to report the distribution of variants of early-onset restrictive eating disturbances characteristic of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) in a middle childhood population sample. Method: Using the EDY-Q, a total of 1444 children aged 8-13 years were screened in elementary schools in Switzerland via self-report. The factor analysis of the 12 items covering ARFID related symptoms was performed using a principal component analysis (PCA). Results: The PCA showed a four factor solution, with clear allocation to the scales covering three variants of early-onset restrictive eating disturbances and weight problems. Inadequate overall food intake was reported by 19.3% of the children, a limited accepted amount of food by 26.1%, and food avoidance based on a specific underlying fear by 5.0%. Discussion: The postulated factor structure of the EDY-Q was confirmed, further supporting the existence of distinct variants of early-onset restrictive eating disturbances. Avoidant/restrictive eating behavior seems to be a common experience in middle childhood, but results have to be confirmed using validated interviews.

Objective: This study sought to determine the factor structure of the newly developed self-report screening questionnaire Eating Disturbances in Youth-Questionnaire (EDY-Q) as well as to report the distribution of variants of early-onset restrictive eating disturbances characteristic of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) in a middle childhood population sample. Method: Using the EDY-Q, a total of 1444 children aged 8-13 years were screened in elementary schools in Switzerland via self-report. The factor analysis of the 12 items covering ARFID related symptoms was performed using a principal component analysis (PCA). Results: The PCA showed a four factor solution, with clear allocation to the scales covering three variants of early-onset restrictive eating disturbances and weight problems. Inadequate overall food intake was reported by 19.3% of the children, a limited accepted amount of food by 26.1%, and food avoidance based on a specific underlying fear by 5.0%. Discussion: The postulated factor structure of the EDY-Q was confirmed, further supporting the existence of distinct variants of early-onset restrictive eating disturbances. Avoidant/restrictive eating behavior seems to be a common experience in middle childhood, but results have to be confirmed using validated interviews.

No description available.