14/10/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19v4xRHtqD/
The financial cost of ARFID.
We often talk about ARFID and how it affects the individual and family's emotionally, mentally and health wise.
But, what about financially?
Many individuals with ARFID rely heavily on takeaway foods.
Pizza, McDonalds, chip shop, ready meals, specific branded products, pre-packaged meals.
This is NOT because they are being awkward, spoilt, controlling, or fussy. It's because those foods feel "safe" for them.
Why is that?
Because they are almost always the same.
They are predictable.
They look, smell and taste pretty much identical, almost every single time. (There are.of course some variances)
Buying takeaways every day comes at a price, a pretty hefty price, that is not always sustainable.
Sometimes, parents/carers and those who have ARFID themselves, simply don't have the money to spend on this kind of food every single day.
But it may be the only actual meal the person is able to eat.
So they have a choice, buy the food and be left with no money for other essentials they need, or they forego the takeaway in order for them to have toilet rolls, milk, bread...
What sort of choice is that?!
Of course they are going to feed their child/themselves! Because if they don't, they will go to bed hungry, and then the guilt will keep the parent/carer awake all night.
What about the occasions they genuinely don't have enough money in the bank to pay for it?
Maybe they borrow it, ask family members to help out and pay for it or they go without food for themselves and other things in order to pay for the safe food.
That also causes guilt for the parents/carers.
It is so difficult and causes family's a lot of emotional turmoil, stress and worry.
Some children may be entitled to DLA (Disability living allowance) or if they are over 16,m PIP (personal independence allowance) which can help to lighten the financial burden somewhat, but that money is often earmarked for other essentials the child/YP needs, such as adaptable clothing, mobility aids etc..
Some parents may use what little money they have, to pay for safe food for their child but use food banks to feed themselves.
Then of course, there is the food waste.
Oh heck! The food waste is often crazy! Which is something that many people don't really consider.
We personally create a LOT of waste. Our food recycling bin is full to bursting every week.
R doesn't have set "safe" foods that she eats consistently for years at a time. They can and do change regularly.
So for weeks on end she may hyperfocus on croissants with Nutella.
Every. Single. Day.
So I stock up, only to find she can no longer look at them, never mind eat them.
She eats particular bread at different times. So this week it could be specific bread rolls that come in a pack of 6, she can only eat them when they're fresh. She may eat 2 then can't eat them any longer, either becuse they're no longer fresh enough, or they have been dropped from her safe list.
Two weeks later it could be french bread, but it has to be fresh, so if no-one else in the house wants any, most of it gets binned.
I can't freeze things and defrost them as and when she fancies them, as freezing them changes the taste and texture.
Other family members are reluctant to eat any of the foods that R eats, because she is so limited, they don't want to take something that she MIGHT eat.
She eats very little actual food.
No meals to speak of, no real hot foods, so no takeaways for her.
But the amount of waste generated is crazy.
She may randomly state she would really like a previous "safe" food which she dropped 6 months earlier!
So naturally, I have stopped buying them 🤦🏻♀️
Of course, there's none in the house so I go out the next day and get them, but the brief moment of wanting them has passed and she no longer fancies them.
I know this is an issue for many who have ARFID or lives with someone with ARFID.
This is also our reality.
It is absolutely NOT their fault.
Again, they are not being deliberately difficult, it's just the way their brains and nervous systems react around food.
However for us, the financial cost is high.
So aside from the worry about health, psychosocial functioning and the future, we also worry about money and whether we will be able to afford to feed our ARFID loved ones going forward.
💜
