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Causes and Triggers: Food Phobia

Food phobia was first described in the early 1990’s by Bryan Lask, a pediatric psychiatrist in London, and Rachel Bryant-Waugh, a psychologist. With the exception of a single article, we are unaware of any discussions of food phobia in the American pediatric or psychiatric literature except under the general title “dysphagia” where it is likely to come to the attention pediatric gastroenterologists and otolaryngologists.  In the adult literature it is usually referred to as “choking phobia”. More recently Dr. Lask has chosen to refer to it again as “functional dysphagia,” although at Kartini Clinic we prefer the more intuitive “food phobia.” In our experience, pediatricians report they are often at a loss about what to do with these challenging patients.

Food phobia occurs in children, often very young children, who experience an episode of choking and/or vomiting that leads them subsequently to refuse all solid food.  In some cases they also refuse to swallow liquids, including their own saliva. This irrational and deeply held fear leads to weight loss and can lead rapidly to dehydration. Food phobia behavior also causes significant psychological distress for the child as well as for the parents.

We are grateful to Drs. Lask and Bryant-Waugh for calling attention to this condition. Click here for the full article. In the interests of full disclosure, Dr. Lask worked with Kartini Clinic staff on various research projects, for which he was not compensated by Kartini Clinic.

For more information about our food phobia treatment program, please call us at 971-319-6800 and speak to our intake coordinators. You may also submit an online request below. We answer all requests promptly.

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From Our Blog

Dr. O’Toole to retire at the end of 2020.

December 16, 2020

It is with decidedly mixed emotions that we announce our founder and chief medical officer, Julie O'Toole MD, MPH, will retire at the end of this year. First I'd like to mention that (for once!) this has nothing to do with the pandemic. Dr. O'Toole's retirement has been planned for some time; … Read Post...

Kartini School: A Success Story

January 19, 2021

[Ed. note: This is one in a series of guest blogs by our Kartini School administrator, Mary Gunesch. With schools returning to at least partial in-person instruction we thought it a good time to focus on this subject.]  When a student begins treatment at Kartini Clinic, we reach out to their … Read Post...

Tips for Motivating Kids in School

January 19, 2021

[Ed. note: This is one in a series of guest blogs by our Kartini School administrator, Mary Gunesch. With schools returning to at least partial in-person instruction we thought it a good time to focus on this subject.] At Kartini Clinic for Children and Families we take the second part of our … Read Post...

The Kartini Clinic Difference

At Kartini Clinic we practice only evidence-based, family-centered eating disorder treatment. Our program is a multi-disciplinary medical and psychiatric treatment model rather than an exclusively psychiatric approach to eating disorder treatment.  read more »

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