ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder) is an eating disorder where people avoid specific foods due to sensory issues, fear, or past bad experiences—not weight concerns.
No, ARFID is more severe than picky eating and can cause malnutrition, anxiety, and daily life disruption.
Yes, ARFID affects both children and adults and may require medical or therapeutic support.
Nutrients like folate and omega-3s can influence gene expression, impacting health outcomes.
Diagnosis starts with your GP and may involve a multidisciplinary eating disorder team. Treatment often includes a dietitian, therapist, and gradual food exposure.
Yes, we use evidence-based from NICE, NHS, peer-reviewed research, trusted and reliable sources to support all content and tools.
Be patient and avoid pressuring them to eat. Offer new foods gently and celebrate small steps forward. If you’re worried, consider reaching out to a healthcare professional.
Try to keep mealtimes relaxed, offer a variety of foods without pressure, and let everyone eat at their own pace. Making meals fun—like using colorful plates or arranging food in shapes—can also help.
Start with familiar foods, mind taste, preferred texture and slowly add new ones. Mixing in fruits, veggies (if you can), or healthy dips can boost nutrition without overwhelming taste buds.
What you eat can turn certain genes on or off, and as it considered as an environment factor, this impacts your health over time. Eating a balanced diet with plenty of plant foods supports your body at the genetic level.
You can explore our website for more tips, or talk to a registered dietitian or your doctor for personalised advice.
We is based on evidence-based practice, and we continue to help develop clarity via guidelines for ARFID and nutrition in the UK. Our content makes references to the most current research and expert consensus in the field. We continue to engage and collaborate in initiatives to improve and standardise care for ARFID.
We ensure your privacy and protect your personal and data. Your identity will remain confidential, however when we do share as insight or trends in ARFID and nutrition we use only anonymised, and aggregate data, never your name or identifying information. We will always inform you as to how what is shared is used to improve our platform and demonstrate a need for better support and research into ARFID.
We brings together, nutrition science and the latest findings into Epigenetics, as well as lived experience, to help families and individuals simplify healthy choices. We link families to health care practitioners and provide practical tools along with evidence-based, practical tips to navigate ARFID and picky eating. BiteToBalance empowers neurodiverse users and their care givers, fills the community support gap to improve wellbeing and takes health from a 'one size fits all' to personal.