Rejected petition Create an ARFID care and treatment pathway and implement it in all Welsh health boards
Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) is an eating disorder that can severely impact people's lives. This disorder is not as widely known as other eating disorders and therefore people do not get the care and treatment they need to support them with their difficulties. There have been instances of children dying of this condition before healthcare professionals have even realised that they have the disorder because the children have slipped through the net entirely.
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Many healthcare professionals have never heard of the disorder or are aware but do not know how to treat the patients due to lack of training and understanding. This causes distress to patients who are made to take food, drinks, oral supplements and medications orally despite this being very challenging for them to do. Parents of children with ARFID are often looked down on by healthcare professionals and parent blaming for their child's eating habits is not uncommon. The few healthcare professionals that are aware of the condition often say that there is nothing they can do because it is a "relatively new eating disorder", however ARFID has been a recognised eating disorder since 2013 and for many years before that it was referred to as Selective Eating Disorder. We need to create an ARFID pathway in ALL Welsh health boards and start supporting patients and families who have been battling alone silently with no professional support.
Why was this petition rejected?
It did not collect enough signatures to be referred to the Petitions Committee.
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