141- Guest Expert: Nikki Pagano, LCSW - ARFID: Recognizing Red Flags in Children’s Eating Habits

Cast:
Dr. Tara Egan - host
Lacey Wallace - guest co-host
Nikki Pagano - guest expert

While picky eating is common among children, persistent and severe cases warrant attention from a healthcare professional.

Today, Tara is joined by Egan Counseling & Consulting's very own, Lacey Wallace. Tara and Lacey co-host an informative interview with Nikki Pagano, LCSW about selective eating in our kids.
 
Nikki Pagano is a licensed clinical social worker in private practice. Prior to relocating to Charlotte, Nikki served as the Director of Adolescent Services at the Columbia Center for Eating Disorders in New York. She has co-authored an online eating disorder course for medical students which has been adopted by Columbia and Yale medical schools and currently teaches an eating disorder course to Atrium's psychiatric residents.

Nikki is certified in Family-based Treatment which is the first-line treatment for children and adolescents with restrictive eating disorders and has extensive training in and experience providing CBT for eating disorders and, more specifically, CBT for ARFID.

Today, she is here to discuss selective eating ---what to look for, what should parents be concerned about and ARFID.

ARFID stands for “avoidant restrictive food intake disorder.” ARFID is a relatively new eating disorder that looks very different from other eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia. Kids with ARFID aren’t worried about how much they weigh, though they sometimes do lose too much weight. Instead, they have rigid and restricted eating habits for other reasons.

Many kids with ARFID avoid foods that have a certain taste, texture, color or some other specific quality.  And some kids with ARFID just have very little interest in food. It’s common for kids with all kinds of ARFID to like only a very limited set of foods.

What sets ARFID apart from normal picky eating is that ARFID has significant negative impacts on the child’s physical and/or mental health. 

- How is it typically diagnosed? 

- What are the signs that a child may warrant a diagnosis? 

- Is this diagnosis comorbid with other diagnoses, typically? 

- How is it typically treated? 

- What role do parents have in the success of treatment? 

- How can a parent find a provider who specializes in this? 

Website mentioned for more information - www.train2treated.com

To learn more about Nikki, www.nikkipaganolcw.com.

For more information about Dr. Egan and Lacey Wallace's services:

Website -Dr. Tara Egan's child & adolescent therapy services, books, webinars, public speaking opportunities, and counseling/consultation services, Go HERE.

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Edited by Christian Fox