334 Feeding and Eating Disorders
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder
Diagnostic Criteria 307.59 (F50.8)
A. An eating or feeding disturbance (e.g., apparent lack of interest in eating or food; avoid-
ance based on the sensory characteristics of food; concern about aversive conse-
quences of eating) as manifested by persistent failure to meet appropriate nutritional
and/or energy needs associated with one (or more) of the following:
1. Significant weight loss (or failure to achieve expected weight gain or faltering
growth in children).
2. Significant nutritional deficiency.
3. Dependence on enteral feeding or oral nutritional supplements.
4. Marked interference with psychosocial functioning.
B. The disturbance is not better explained by lack of available food or by an associated
culturally sanctioned practice.
C. The eating disturbance does not occur exclusively during the course of anorexia ner-
vosa or bulimia nervosa, and there is no evidence of a disturbance in the way in which
one’s body weight or shape is experienced.
D. The eating disturbance is not attributable to a concurrent medical condition or not bet-
ter explained by another mental disorder. When the eating disturbance occurs in the
context of another condition or disorder, t he severity of the eating disturbance exceeds
that routinely associated with the condition or disorder and warrants additional clinical
attention.
Specify if:
In remission:  After full criteria for avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder were previ-
ously met, the criteria have not been met for a sustained period of time.
Diagnostic Features
Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder replaces and extends the DSM-IV diagnosis of
feeding disorder of infancy or  early childhood. The main diagnostic feature of avoidant/
restrictive food intake disorder is avoidance or restriction of food intake (Criterion A)