This raffle is for 1 x Liberty x Jellycat Bartholomew Bear - Danjo All proceeds going to ARFID Awareness UK ARFID stands for Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, it is often dismissed as “just picky eating” but it is so much more and a registered Eating Disorder diagnosis in the DSM-5. ARFID is characterised by a pattern of eating that avoids certain foods or food groups entirely and/or is restricted in quantity. This avoidance and restriction can be for many reasons such as sensory issues around the taste, smell or look of certain foods, a general lack of interest in eating and fear of adverse consequences if they eat for example choking or being sick. You may be thinking a lot of people don’t like the look, smell of certain foods but the difference with ARFID is how much we hyper fixate on it and if we end up eating it we will feel it digesting through our bodies and attach so much negative meaning to this- leading us wanting to not put ourselves in these situations. This can severely affect nutrition due to the limited food groups. ARFID can differ from other restrictive Eating Disorders based on the fact that it isn’t affected by the persons beliefs about their body. Anyone can develop ARFID but it is more common in neurodivergent people. Since ARFID sufferers are limited in what they can eat this often leads to feelings of isolation and depression and can cause many difficulties in day to day life. People often see this disorder as a rare Eating Disorder however it is just vastly undiagnosed. The UK’s Eating Disorder charity, BEAT, found that 5% of all eating disorder cases are because of ARFID. Our daughter was only recently diagnosed with ARFID after a serious decline in eating due to heightened fear but looking back we can see she always had restricted eating due to sensory issues. Everything revolves around her meal times now, she can’t eat with her friends, she can’t be around food. It’s not fun and it’s real. We’ve chosen to raise money for ARFID awareness uk as they are the uk’s only registered charity dedicated to raising awareness for ARFID. They provide up to date research and information for professionals and individuals and families affected.