Preparation for Child Psych PRITE and Boards
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Introduction

Infantile Anorexia (IA) is a diagnosis not found in DSM-IV, but rather in the Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Development Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood (DC:03-R).
DC:03-R is designed for diagnosing difficulties in very young children published by a non-profit Zero to Three.

Infantile Anorexia is characterized by the child’s refusal to eat adequate amounts of food for at least 1 month.

  • The infant/toddler with IA rarely communicates hunger, lacks interest in food and eating, and shows growth deficiency.
  • The child’s food refusal does not follow a traumatic event and is not due to an underlying medical illness.
  • The onset of the food refusal often occurs during the transition to spoon- and self-feeding, typically between 6 months and 3 years of age.