New Treatments for Eating Disorder Approved

Stanford mental health researchers say family therapy could be the key to helping children with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). In an April 2026 paper, a team of experts from Stanford University and John’s Hopkins University announced the results of an early investigation into treating ARFID, which could be the first evidence-based treatments for the disorder.

ARFID was only incorporated into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 2013, and it takes time for researchers to develop an evidence base for treatments specifically addressing newly recognized disorders.

According to author James Lock, MD, this is the first study, worldwide, to take a systematic, randomized, adequately powered approach to testing treatments for this disorder. The professor of psychiatry at Stanford’s department of psychiatry and behavioural sciences continued, “We now have an evidence base for how to help children with ARFID, at the age when they often present for treatment.”

The team found that two approaches to treating ARFID in kids aged between six years old and twelve – family-based therapy treatment and psychoeducational motivational therapy – help children with ARFID to add more types of food to their plates.

Both treatments address a child’s relationship with food, their fears, and ways to motivate themselves to try new things. While psychoeducational motivational therapy focuses mainly on the child, family-based treatment involves the rest of the household, tackling the interactions between children, food, and their family’s understanding of the condition.

Brittany Matheson, PhD, Associate Professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences, who co-led the study, explains, “We now have two treatments that work for children aged 6 to 12 with ARFID… Family-based treatment seems to help kids gain weight more quickly, but both family and individual treatment can be helpful.”

Involving the rest of the family in treatment can help parents and kids work together to avoid conflict and unhappiness. Matheson explained, “The therapist guides and consults them, but parents are the experts on their child, their family’s food culture, and their family systems.”

Psychoeducational motivational therapy encourages kids to take charge of their eating habits. The therapist will attempt to assist children to understand their condition and why it upsets their parents, and to assist the child in thinking of ways to motivate themselves to eat.

The researchers recruited 98 families to take part in the trial. The trial coordinators randomly split them into two groups. One group of 49 would have fourteen sessions of family-based treatment for ARFID, while the other 49 would have psychoeducational motivational therapy.

Each child and their parents took assessments after one month, two months, and at the end of the course to see whether anything had changed. The average participant was nearly ten years old, starting the trial with a body weight of 85% of what would be expected for their age.

At the end of the trial, on average, kids who got family-based ARFID treatments increased their body weight from roughly 85.7% to 90.5% of expected weight for their age. This was a statistically significant increase in weight.

The researchers also noticed that kids in both groups decreased the severity of their food restrictions to a clinically meaningful level. Another important finding was that parents who took part in family-based treatment scored higher than the solo therapy group on parental self-efficacy questionnaires after treatment.

For children with ARFID, these treatments can be life-changing, allowing them to participate in activities they previously avoided due to food restrictions. By involving the family in the treatment process, parents can better support their child’s recovery, and children can develop a healthier relationship with mental health and food.

Julia Ceresnak, who joined the trial at the age of ten, explained how psychoeducational motivational therapy helped her. She took part in the solo therapy group, working with Matheson to develop strategies to help take part in activities she’d usually self-exclude from, such as sleep-away camps and school trips.

Since starting therapy, Julia has increased her list of safe foods to include things she would never have considered eating. In response to her mom’s reminder, “Remember? You wouldn’t eat eggs, avocado, so many good things.” Julia says, “I like eggs a lot.”

They now have evidence for how to help children with ARFID.