In the article “Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder and autism spectrum disorder: clinical implications for assessment and management” published in Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, Fadila Farag and others examine clinical and neurodevelopmental presentations of children with ARFID. 536 patients (mean age 6y 10mo; 401 males, 135 females) who were seen by the tertiary multidisciplinary feeding service at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital from 2013-2019 were included in this case-control study. The researchers found that ARFID was more prevalent in male patients, younger patients (<10 years), and in children with co-occurring autism (55% of children with ARFID had autism). Because children often present with both ARFID and autism, the authors encourage clinicians to consider both diagnoses conjunctively and to examine feeding, social communication skills, and sensory profile during assessment.
