Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2025 | ARFID

#EatingDisordersAwarenessWeek

#AnyoneAnytime

#SensoryIntegration

#SensoryIntegrationIsEveryonesBusiness

This week, from 24 February to 2 March 2025, is focused on Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2025 | Shining a Light on ARFID and Sensory Integration

This Eating Disorders Awareness Week, we’re joining Rethink Mental Illness and BEAT in raising awareness of Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)—a little-known but deeply impactful eating disorder. Unlike other eating disorders, ARFID isn’t driven by concerns about body image but instead by sensory sensitivities, fear of adverse consequences (such as choking or vomiting), or a general lack of interest in food.

At ASI Wise and the Sensory Project Team, we recognise the strong links between Sensory Integration challenges and eating difficulties, including ARFID. Research continues to highlight how individuals with sensory processing differences may experience heightened aversions to textures, smells, tastes, and even the look of certain foods. This can lead to extreme food avoidance, nutritional deficiencies, and difficulties with social participation at mealtimes

Have you or someone you know experienced sensory-related eating challenges?

💬 Join the conversation: on Facebook or Instagram

The Sensory Connection to ARFID

For many individuals, eating isn’t just about nourishment—it’s a full-body sensory experience. Those with sensory integration difficulties may struggle with:

✅ Hypersensitivity to food textures (e.g., refusing foods that feel “slimy” or “gritty”)

✅ Overwhelming tastes or smells that trigger gag reflexes

✅ Difficulty coordinating the movements needed to chew and swallow

✅ Anxiety around mealtimes due to previous distressing experiences

✅ Limited diet variety, leading to nutritional concerns

How Can We Support Individuals with ARFID?

🔹 Understanding the Sensory Profile – Identifying which sensory inputs are triggering distress is key.

🔹 Gradual Exposure – Encouraging interaction with food in a non-pressurised way can help build tolerance.

🔹 Sensory Strategies– Occupational therapy using Ayres’ Sensory Integration® can help individuals regulate sensory responses.

🔹 Compassion and Support – Recognising that ARFID is a serious eating disorder and not just “picky eating” is crucial for removing stigma.

Raising Awareness and Taking Action

This Eating Disorders Awareness Week, let’s break the myths surrounding ARFID and eating difficulties. If you or someone you know is struggling with food-related anxiety and sensory sensitivities, professional support from an Occupational Therapist trained in Sensory Integration can make a real difference.

This is a crucial issue that requires greater awareness and visibility, as it affects many people personally. Whether through a family member, a friend, or even through personal experience.

These conditions can be experienced at any stage of life but especially happen during adolescence and youth, and can be carried into adulthood.

Eating disorders affect physical and mental health and influence one’s ability to perform in important areas of life.

The goal for individuals who live with Eating Disorders is to adopt healthier eating and lifestyle habits, develop a more positive mindset about their body, and improve their relationship with food.

Addressing these conditions as soon as possible is crucial to preventing the person from developing severe health complications.

Sensory Processing Differences Are Common in ARFID
Many individuals with ARFID experience heightened sensory sensitivities, particularly to the taste, texture, temperature, and appearance of food. These sensitivities often lead to avoidance of certain foods and a highly selective diet.(Zucker et al., 2019)

ARFID Is More Prevalent in Individuals with Sensory Processing Difficulties
Children with sensory processing difficulties, particularly those with sensory over-responsivity, are at a higher risk of developing ARFID due to heightened aversive reactions to food-related sensory stimuli. (Koomar & Bundy, 2019)

Vestibular and Proprioceptive Challenges May Contribute to ARFID
Difficulties with vestibular and proprioceptive processing can contribute to poor postural control and coordination during eating, which may increase food avoidance due to discomfort or difficulty managing oral-motor control. (Cermak et al., 2010)

Somatosensory Processing Deficits Can Affect Oral-Motor Function
Children with ARFID often have difficulties with somatosensory processing, which can lead to challenges in detecting food textures and coordinating oral-motor movements, increasing food refusal behaviours. (Boyd et al., 2019)

Sensory Integration Therapy Can Help Address Feeding Challenges in ARFID
Sensory-based interventions, such as graded exposure to food textures and temperatures in a play-based setting, have been found to improve food acceptance in children with ARFID. (Chistol et al., 2018)

Interoception and ARFID
Individuals with ARFID may have altered interoceptive awareness, leading to difficulties in recognizing hunger and fullness cues, which can further contribute to restricted eating patterns. (Murphy et al., 2021)

ARFID and Sensory Integration Issues Are Common in Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
ARFID is highly prevalent in autistic individuals, who frequently experience sensory processing differences, particularly in relation to food textures, tastes, and smells. Addressing sensory integration challenges is key to supporting eating behaviours in this population. (Koomar & Bundy, 2019; Farag et al., 2022)

At ASI-Wise, we offer different options to learn more about Eating Disorders.

There is a Peer Support Group meeting every month, on the third Tuesday from 7.30 to 8.30 UK time.

If you are interested in this topic, join our community of practice.

You can also find different webinars and workshops that you, as a therapist, a parent or a teacher, may find helpful:

You can also join us during the 3 days – Mental Health Workshop that is held every month, in which Eating Disorders are also covered:

Watch here Sensory Ladders Webinar for free, where you can learn more about this great clinical tool for self-regulation: