what's the word
What do Ponce de León and Bryan Johnson have in common?
Julia Bujalski/STAT
Related: Lotions, creams, oozes, etc.? Tofu's source? Try STAT's mini crossword before you go on break for the holiday later this week.
mental health
How common is avoidant/restrictive eating in kids?
Kids with symptoms of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) have more developmental difficulties than kids who don't, according to a study published yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics. The paper also analyzed the prevalence of the disorder among Norwegian children and found that 6.3% of all children showed clinical symptoms of the disorder.
The findings came from a cohort study including more than 35,000 kids, in which mothers reported symptoms when their children were 3 and 8 years old. Out of all kids, about 3.2% showed symptoms at age 3, 1.4% at age 8, and 1.8% showed persistent symptoms at both ages.
In case you're unfamiliar: ARFID was added to the DSM-5 (a major diagnostic manual for mental health conditions) a little over a decade ago in order to categorize limited or restricted food intake that has clinical implications, but is not primarily motivated by weight or body image concerns like other eating disorders.
But interestingly, a study also published this month in the Journal of Eating Disorders challenged the idea that ARFID is a completely distinct diagnosis from other eating disorders like anorexia, which are largely shaped by these types of concerns. The researchers found that while patients with ARFID had lower levels of disordered core beliefs, assumptions, automatic thoughts, and weight/shape concerns than people with anorexia, they had significantly higher levels of those cognitions compared to people with no eating disorders. All to say: More research is needed.
first opinion
Don't call this a 'journey'
Like an estimated 20 million Americans, Peter Swenson has long Covid. Some people refer to this experience as a "journey," but for Swenson, that feels like "sugarcoating my bitter pill," as he writes in a new First Opinion essay. "I would sooner call the experience a bad trip."
A journey suggests good things. Journeys are a willing endeavor. A chronic disease is neither, Swenson writes. His symptoms include debilitating fatigue, dizziness, occasional brain fog, dyspnea, hoarseness, muscle weakness, exercise intolerance, and crushing post-exertional malaise. Read more on why this singular word choice means so much to him and many others.
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