Early-onset restrictive eating disturbances in primary school boys and girls

• DOI: 10.1007/s00787-014-0622-z
• Publication Date: 2014-10-08T16:07:55Z
• Authors: Susanne Kurz; Zoé van Dyck; Daniela Dremmel; Simone Munsch; Anja Hilbert
• Keywords: Male; Adolescent; Psychometrics; : Traitement & psychologie clinique [H13] [Sciences sociales & comportementales, psychologie]; : Treatment & clinical psychology [H13] [Social & behavioral sciences, psychology]; Störung restriktive Nahrungsaufnahme, frühzeitige restriktive Essstörung, mittleres Kindesalter, Verbreitung; Body Mass Index; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder; Prevalence; Humans; Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health; Age of Onset; Child; Feeding and Eating Disorders of Childhood; Early-onset restrictive eating disturbances; info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/610; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; 2. Zero hunger; ddc:610; Schools; 4. Education; Original Contribution; Middle childhood; 3. Good health; Psychiatry and Mental health; avoidant restrictive food intake disorder, early-onset restrictive eating disturbances, middle childhood, prevalence; Female; Switzerland

This study sought to determine the distribution of early-onset restrictive eating disturbances characteristic of the new DSM-5 diagnosis, avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) in middle childhood, as well as to evaluate the screening instrument, Eating Disturbances in Youth-Questionnaire (EDY-Q). A total of 1,444 8- to 13-year-old children were screened in regular schools (3rd to 6th grade) in Switzerland using the self-report measure EDY-Q, consisting of 12 items based on the DSM-5 criteria for ARFID. 46 children (3.2%) reported features of ARFID in the self-rating. Group differences were found for body mass index, with underweight children reporting features of ARFID more often than normal and overweight children. The EDY-Q revealed good psychometric properties, including adequate discriminant and convergent validity. Early-onset restrictive eating disturbances are commonly reported in middle childhood. Because of possible negative short- and long-term impact, early detection is essential. Further studies with structured interviews and parent reports are needed to confirm this study's findings.