Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) in New Zealand and Australia: a scoping review

Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is an eating disorder that involves restrictive or avoidant eating behaviour not related to weight or body image concerns. It was first included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-fifth edition (DSM-5) in 2013. ARFID frequently begins in childhood and can have serious psychosocial impacts and detrimental health consequences when nutritional and energy needs are persistently unmet. This systematic scoping review focuses on Australasia, synthesizing the current literature landscape on ARFID, and offering recommendations for targeted, actionable research directions for both funders and researchers.

Online databases and university thesis repositories were systematically searched for studies examining ARFID in the New Zealand or Australian population since 2013. Database search results were exported to Rayyan software, and two independent reviewers screened all identified sources, prior to extraction of key data.

Twenty-nine studies and one thesis from 138 screened sources were eligible for inclusion. Frequent study types were treatment interventions and cross-sectional studies, with populations including individuals with ARFID, ED service populations, parents/caregivers, health professionals, and non-clinical populations. ARFID presents in a range of settings and is associated with poorer quality of life and significant functional impairment. Assessment of ARFID was varied, and no specific treatment guidelines for ARFID have been written as yet.

This review calls for more accurate prevalence estimates of ARFID in children and larger-scale studies in all ages using validated measures. It emphasizes the need for education and training of healthcare professionals, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Established interventions like behaviour analytics should be considered, and more comprehensive research is needed on interventions for ARFID, including controlled trials and longitudinal studies. Urgent research is needed to improve outcomes for those affected by ARFID.