ARFID Awareness Month | It’s Far More Complex Than “Picky Eating” — Understanding Its Impact in the Workplace
- HDHR Services
- May 18
- 4 min read
May marks ARFID Awareness Month — a condition that is still widely misunderstood, and often dismissed as “just picky eating.”
But ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder) is far more complex than preference or choice.
It’s a recognised eating disorder that can have a real impact on someone’s physical health, mental wellbeing, and day-to-day life.
Research into ARFID is still developing, so the numbers vary quite a bit, but some studies suggest it could affect anywhere between 0.3% and 15.5% of the population (ARFID Awareness Non Profit).
In itself, that shows how under-researched and misunderstood the condition still is.
For a lot of people, ARFID quietly shapes how they navigate workplaces, social situations, travel, and anything involving food.
What is ARFID?
ARFID stands for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder.
It involves avoiding or restricting certain foods, textures, smells, or eating situations. Unlike other eating disorders, it isn’t linked to body image or weight concerns.
Instead, it can be connected to things like:
Sensory sensitivities (taste, texture, smell, appearance)
Anxiety around eating or choking/vomiting
Past difficult or traumatic experiences with food
Neurodivergence in some cases
ARFID can also co-exist with conditions such as Anxiety, OCD, Autism, and ADHD, which can make the experience even more complex for the individual.
Because of this, it can look completely different from one person to the next, and it’s often not visible from the outside at all.
A personal reflection
I’ve seen ARFID up close in a very personal way through my own family.
My four-year-old niece started showing symptoms when she was just two, following a traumatic hospital stay due to Pneumonia. Watching her journey since then has really shaped how I understand this condition — not in theory, but in real life, day to day.
It’s been a slow process with a lot of learning along the way, and it’s made one thing very clear: ARFID is far more complex than it first appears, and very easy to misunderstand if you’re not close to it.
Alongside that, I’ve also seen ARFID in my professional experience. I’ve worked in situations where an employee was dealing with both physical and mental health challenges linked to their eating, which had a real impact on their working life.
They had also disclosed their eating disorder to a manager, but it wasn’t fully understood or taken seriously at the time. It really highlighted how easily conditions like this can be misunderstood, and how important it is that managers feel confident and supported when these conversations come up.
Both experiences have reinforced the same thing for me — this isn’t about someone being “fussy” or difficult with food. There's far more to it than that.
Common misconceptions of ARFID
One of the biggest challenges with ARFID is how often it gets misunderstood.
People often assume things like:
“They’re just picky eaters”
“They’ll grow out of it”
“They just need to try new foods”
“It’s not serious”
But the reality is ARFID isn’t a choice or a preference. It’s a serious mental health condition, and for many people it can bring real anxiety and distress into everyday situations.
The psychological and emotional impact
Alongside the practical side of accessing “safe” foods, there’s often a real emotional toll too.
People with ARFID may experience:
Anxiety in social eating situations
Embarrassment or shame around food limitations
Fear of judgement or being seen as “difficult”
Frustration at not being understood
The pressure of having to explain themselves repeatedly
In workplace settings, this can also lead to masking — pushing through situations that feel uncomfortable just to avoid standing out.
And over time, that can become exhausting.
Why employers should care
Workplace culture is often built around shared experiences — and food is a bigger part of that than we sometimes realise.
But when those experiences aren’t inclusive, people can unintentionally be left out.
This can affect:
Inclusion and belonging
Participation in workplace culture
Engagement in team and client activities
Retention and employee experience
Psychological safety at work
What good support looks like
Support becomes most important when ARFID starts to affect someone physically or psychologically at work. It’s not about overcomplicating things or treating it as something separate from “work issues” — it’s about recognising the impact it’s having and responding in a sensible, human way.
That can include:
Taking disclosures seriously and responding with empathy
Having calm, straightforward conversations about what support might help
Thinking practically about adjustments that reduce pressure and help someone stay well at work
Allowing flexibility where possible
At its core, it’s about recognising that when ARFID is affecting someone’s working life, it becomes a wellbeing and inclusion issue. And the way an organisation responds can make a real difference to whether someone feels supported — or feels like they have to manage it alone.
Final thoughts
ARFID is still widely misunderstood, but awareness is slowly growing — and that matters.
Not everyone experiences food in the same way, and for some people it requires careful navigation in everyday life, including at work.
When employers take the time to understand that, it helps create workplaces where people feel included, respected, and able to take part without unnecessary stress or exclusion.
And often, it’s the small changes in understanding that make the biggest difference.
Need support?
If you need support reviewing workplace wellbeing, inclusion practices, or creating more accessible environments for neurodivergent employees, HDHR can help you — supporting your people while protecting your business.
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