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Picky eaters could join ranks of mentally ill

Could picky eaters actually be suffering from a mental illness? That’s the prospect some are raising over a proposed addition to psychiatry’s official manual of mental illness.

“Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder,” or ARFID, is being recommended as a new eating disorder for the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5, an influential book used daily by doctors worldwide.

ARFID is being defined as an “eating or feeding disturbance” that includes avoiding foods of a particular taste, texture or colour.

The diagnosis is designed to capture children — as well as adults — with such peculiar and profound food preferences it’s causing significant weight loss or serious nutritional deficiencies.

But some observers worry the new disorder would inevitably add large numbers of people to the “swelling ranks” of the mentally ill.

Via: nationalpost