Is it an eating disorder?
If you’re worried you or a loved one may be struggling with an eating disorder, this 5-minute screener is a good place to start.
- Starting a new diet, including an interest in “healthy,” “clean,” “low-carb,” or other rule-based eating approaches
- Avoiding certain food groups, either for health/diet reasons or due to taste/texture preference
- Absence during family meals, or avoiding situations that include eating in a group
- Inflexibility about what, when, or how much to eat
- Fixation on food’s calorie content
- Visiting the bathroom or showering immediately after meals
- A new interest in cooking without eating the food
- Rigidity around certain ingredients, brands, food preparations, or utensils
- A longer list of foods they will not eat than they will eat
- A long history of “picky” eating that has gotten worse over time
- Struggling to eat or eat enough food
- Frequent stomach pain or other gastrointestinal complaints
Do you have concerns about the signs above?
We recommend a professional assessment by your medical provider.
You can also contact our team for a consultation.
Resources
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Screener preview
While eating disorders affect people of all body types and sizes, low body weight can be a clear sign of an eating disorder, especially anorexia, or ARFID. Often, it’s difficult for a person with an eating disorder to recognize they are sick, so hearing others expressing concern can be a powerful sign.
Food Restriction Is at the Root of Most Eating Disorders—Not Just Anorexia
Weight Restoration in Eating Disorders: Why It's More Important than Most People Think The amount of space that thoughts about food, weight, and body size take up in someone’s life are a big factor in determining the presence of an eating disorder. If these thoughts are significantly affecting you or your loved one’s quality of life, it’s worth seeking help.
What Is Body Checking? Why It's Harmful and How It Impacts Body Image
How Do Body Image Issues to Eating Disorders? While a diet isn’t inherently a sign of an eating disorder, dieting and eating disorders have many qualities in common: restricting meals, cutting out food groups, counting carbs, etc. Oftentimes, dieting is what can “turn on” an eating disorder, especially for someone who’s already at risk.
Diet vs. Eating Disorder: How to Tell the Difference
What Is Diet ? Eating a large amount of food at once while feeling out of control is known as “bingeing” and is a sign of binge eating disorder (or bulimia when paired with purging behaviors). The frequency of these binges can help determine if an eating disorder has developed.
Binge Eating Disorder Isn’t About Willpower. Here’s What It Is About.
How to Stop Binge Eating and What Triggers to Look For- Made yourself throw up?
- Used diuretics or laxatives?
- Exercised excessively (through pain, injury, poor weather, etc.)?
- Fasted (for non-medical or religious reasons)?
These are all examples of a behavior known as “purging,” where a person tries to “get rid of” the food they eat. Purging is often a sign of bulimia nervosa, but it can also point to purging disorder or anorexia binge-purge subtype depending on the frequency and other behaviors present.
Understanding the Many Forms of Purging: Excessive Exercise, Laxative Misuse, and Other Bulimia SymptomsBulimia Treatment Guide: Understanding & Overcoming Bulimia Understanding Anorexia Binge-Purge Subtype: What You Need to Know Understanding Purging Disorder: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment Options Having extreme sensitivities to certain types of food is a sign of ARFID. If more and more foods are added to the list of foods you or your loved one avoid entirely, it’s usually a sign that the behavior has crossed over from picky eating into ARFID.
When Picky Eating Goes Awry: Understanding the Difference Between Selective Eating and ARFID
This is the third key cause and sign of ARFID. Oftentimes, a traumatic event around eating can trigger this fear, although not always.
Food Allergies and ARFID: What's the Connection?
ARFID in Adults: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, and More About this screener
This screener is designed to indicate whether you or your loved one may be at risk for an eating disorder. It’s not intended to provide a clinically recognized diagnosis. Developed in collaboration with Equip’s Vice President of Program Development, Jessie Menzel, PhD, it draws from the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) by the Child Outcomes Research Consortium.
If this screener suggests you or a loved one may be at risk for an eating disorder—or you’re concerned regardless—consulting a professional is an essential first step. Share the symptoms from this screener with your doctor to discuss your specific concerns. You can also contact Equip for a free, no-obligation phone consultation to review the signs you’re noticing. The journey to recovery is almost always easier the earlier you seek care.
Questions? We can help.
Lasting recovery starts with the first step.
Our team is here to take it with you.