‘I asked my daughter what she wanted for dinner and she burst into tears'
"I could feel this emotion coming from her and I didn’t realise how bad it was impacting her.”
At first glance of Hannah’s TikTok account, you might assume she is just sharing snippets of her regular tween life online, but Hannah has a complex eating disorder called Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (AFFID).
A recent TikTok clip of Hannah trying to eat a honey stick went viral as it demonstrated the devastating impact that this illness has on her life.
In the clip Hannah, who lives in California with her mum and two older brothers, talks about how she tried honey a few months ago as it was a “safe food” of another TikTokker named Toren Wolf, who also deals with ARFID.
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"I'm proud of myself"
Hannah explains that while she wasn’t keen on honey, a friend eats honey sticks, so when she saw them at the farmers market, she knew she wanted to try.
As she bravely takes a tiny bite, her face contorts as she gags and it’s easy to see she is not enjoying the supposed treat clasped in her hand.
She says she struggled with the bitter taste and texture but is happy she had a go: “I’m proud of myself for still doing my three tries even though it was a struggle,” Hannah says in the clip.
“I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do it, but I did!”
As Hannah's illness ARFID was only listed as a diagnosable eating disorder in 2013, there is a huge lack of understanding and awareness of this condition. Until recently kids like Hannah may have just been classified as ‘picky eaters’
According to The Butterfly Foundation, ARFID is much more than just that.
The website explains that ARFID “ is a serious eating disorder with potentially damaging health consequences, such as a lack of growth, weight loss, malnutrition and psychosocial impairment. ARFID can also impact anyone, of any age.”
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"Struggled with textures"
Hannah and her mum Michelle have been documenting her struggles with ARFID on TikTok as a way to bring awareness to the illness.
In a 10 minute explainer clip on TikTok, Hannah’s mum explains how her eldest son has autism and was a picky eater as a toddler.
“He didn’t start eating until he was three. He struggled with textures and lots of sensory issues and he would drink a gallon of milk every day.”
She says they did 'feeding therapy' with him and that it was extremely successful and by the time he turned six, he was eating a variety of foods. She continues by describing how their middle son will “eat anything” and then with Hannah who was also a picky eater as a toddler, but they hoped that like her brother she would eventually overcome it.
Unfortunately this was not the case.
“[Feeding therapy] was a very painful experience, very traumatic for her and she had very bad anxiety going to feeding therapy and so we decided it was doing more harm than good.”
At four years old, Hannah’s weight began going in the wrong direction and her family and team of medical doctors were very concerned.
A few months ago, Hannah’s mum says that as they were driving by a US restaurant chain Chick Fil-A to get something for dinner and they were discussing what to get to eat, but Hannah became emotional.
“She started crying and getting very upset, and finally opened up to us and said, ‘Every time you talk about food it makes me really anxious’,” Michelle recalled.
“And I could feel this emotion coming from her and I didn’t realise how bad it was impacting her.”
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"Therapy is helping"
The pivotal moment encouraged Michelle to research Hannah’s condition further, as she began to suspect her daughter had ARFID and needed an eating disorder specialist.
Eventually, they found a psychologist in another state who specialised in ARFID so they started meeting with her twice a week on Zoom.
Michelle says they do food “exposures and eating” which still gives Hannah anxiety but that thankfully, the therapy is “helping her a lot as she is using coping skills to calm herself down”.
The successful therapy coupled with supplements to ensue she is getting enough nutrients in her diet, is helping and according to Michelle, this year Hannah has gained one pound in weight.
After sending a video of Hannah drinking a supplement to her therapist for positive feedback, Michelle says that she decided to start an Instagram account for Hannah so that she could receive support and encouragement from her wider community of friends and family when she tried a new food or drink.
“We thought, maybe she’ll be motivated to do this for them and … we also thought people would have a better understanding as to why she is the way she is.”
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Receiving support from the community
Hannah’s TikTok is now full of clips where she tries new foods and explains some of her ‘safe foods’ or what it means for her to live with ARFID, which she describes as a ‘fear of food’.
In an interview with news.com.au, Grace Collinson, Clinical Program Manager at Butterfly Foundation explained how there is growing awareness of ARFID, thanks in part to people like Hannah and her mum.
“Butterfly’s recent Paying the Price Report shows that there are 31,341 people in Australia diagnosed with ARFID in 2023, making up 3 per cent of the 1.1 million people in Australia with eating disorders,” Ms Collinson said.
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Originally published as ‘I asked my daughter what she wanted for dinner and she burst into tears'
