ARFID: Is It OCD, Anxiety, or an Eating Disorder?
AT Parenting Survival | Raising Kids with OCD & Anxiety
Natasha Daniels: Child Therapist, Child Anxiety and OCD Expert, Parenting Coach and Parent
4.9 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 24 March 2026
⏱️ 61 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
ARFID can look like OCD, anxiety, extreme picky eating, or even a traditional eating disorder, which is why so many parents feel confused about what they are actually dealing with.
In this episode, I break down the five types of ARFID, avoidant, aversive, restrictive, mixed, and ARFID plus, and explain how each one presents differently.
We also talk about how ARFID overlaps with OCD and anxiety, when exposure and response prevention is the right fit, and when a feeding therapist or occupational therapist may be the better route. Understanding what is driving your child’s food restriction is the key to getting the right help.
If you are a parent trying to figure out whether your child’s eating struggles are fear based, sensory based, or something else entirely, this episode will give you clarity and direction.
Resources mentioned in episode:
Anxiety Specialists of Atlanta - Dr. Megan Faye
Free upcoming series: Survival Tools for Parents Raising Kids with Anxiety or OCD
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This podcast episode is sponsored by NOCD. NOCD provides online OCD therapy in the US, UK, Australia and Canada. To schedule your free 15 minute consultation to see if NOCD is a right fit for you and your child, go to
https://go.treatmyocd.com/at_parenting
This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be used to replace the guidance of a qualified professional.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before we dive into today's episode, I want to make sure you know about something that could really |
| 0:05.2 | change the way you support your child with anxiety or OCD. I am running a free video series called |
| 0:11.7 | survival tools for parents raising kids with anxiety and OCD, and it is packed with practical |
| 0:17.6 | strategies and insights. Honestly, I wish every single parent had because you're going to |
| 0:23.4 | learn how to get your child to open up and communicate more. Who doesn't need that? Create exposures |
| 0:28.8 | that they'll actually want to do or be willing to do. And most importantly, build a home environment |
| 0:35.4 | that supports long-term progress and not just crisis |
| 0:39.8 | management like so many of us are doing. This is the kind of information that's hard to find |
| 0:45.3 | unless you're deep in the trenches, and I want to make it as accessible as possible. |
| 0:51.0 | Register now for free at atparenting Survival Series.com. The series runs from |
| 0:58.5 | April 16th through April 24th. I'll see you over there. Welcome to the AT Parenting |
| 1:07.4 | Survival Podcast, where you get help and guidance through the chaos of parenting a child |
| 1:12.2 | with anxiety or OCD. This show is for educational purposes and is not intended to replace the guidance |
| 1:18.8 | of a qualified professional. Here's your host, child therapist, Natasha Daniels. Well, hello there, |
| 1:25.5 | and welcome to another episode of the AT Parenting Survepa |
| 1:29.2 | podcast. Today, we're going to dive into my least favorite but most consumed topic in my house, |
| 1:36.7 | which is ARFID, avoidance restrictive food intake disorder. And got a lot of thoughts around ARFid. We're going to talk about the diagnosis, |
| 1:46.4 | the difference between arphid and anxiety, OCD, the overlap, the disorder diagnosis itself, |
| 1:56.0 | and and treatment options. But before we dump, before we dump, that's how I feel about ARFID. Before we jump in, |
| 2:03.7 | I do want to thank NoCD for sponsoring this episode. NoCD offers affordable, effective, |
| 2:09.3 | convenient therapy, and they're available in the U.S. and outside of the U.S. |
| 2:13.2 | You can schedule your free 15-minute consultation to see if no CD is a right fit for you and your child. |
... |
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