Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of NHS provision for children and young people with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder and other restrictive eating difficulties associated with autism and other forms of neurodiversity.

Nationally, NHS England’s Children and Young People’s Eating Disorder Commissioning Guidance sets out expectations for provision for children and young people with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) and other restrictive eating difficulties. It broadens the scope of specialist community eating disorder services to include ARFID and expects integrated care boards to develop whole-pathway approaches, with close collaboration between community eating disorder, mental health, paediatric, and neurodevelopmental services.

The guidance emphasises personalised care and reasonable adjustments for autistic children and young people and those with other disabilities or neurodevelopmental conditions. Services should consider restrictive eating difficulties associated with food textures, sensory experiences, and trauma.

For children and young people whose eating difficulties do not meet the eligibility criteria for specialist eating disorder services, appropriate assessment, treatment, and support should be provided through collaboration with wider services. NHS England’s guidance specifically sets out that specialist children and young people’s eating disorder services should work with wider children and young people’s mental health services, community child health services, primary care, schools, and the voluntary sector to support those whose disordered eating behaviours do not meet current diagnostic thresholds for an eating disorder.

Disordered eating can be clinically significant and require intensive support even without a formal eating disorder diagnosis. This collaborative approach should help ensure that difficulties are addressed early and that children and young people receive support through the most appropriate care pathway.