Now 8 years old, Hannah is being treated for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, or ARFID. Unlike eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia nervosa, this diagnosis isn’t concerned with body shape or size, said Kate Dansie, clinical director of the Eating Disorder Center in Rockville, Maryland. Instead, people with ARFID are very limited in the foods they feel safe and comfortable eating, Dansie said. While an estimated 9% of the US population will have an eating disorder at some point, studies suggest that somewhere between 0.5% and 5% of the population has ARFID, according to the National Eating Disorders Association. One way to spot the difference is the level of impairment and anxiety that comes with facing a new food, Murray said.

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Persons: Hannah, didn’t, Michelle, Kate Dansie, Dansie, “, ”, Stuart Murray, Murray, ARFID, nutritively, ” Hannah, ” Dansie, ” Murray, –, Nicole Stettler, “ It’s, ” Michelle Organizations: CNN, Girl Scouts, Disorders, Eating Disorders, University of Southern, “, Rogers Behavioral Health Locations: Rockville , Maryland, University of Southern California