Diagnosis and evaluation of eating disorders in the pediatric patient

Recognizing eating disorders in the pediatric population can be challenging for outpatient providers. With the high prevalence of these disorders in children and adolescents, it is critical that pediatricians recognize these disorders and connect these children and families with available treatments. This article provides a review of the current diagnostic criteria for pica, rumination disorder, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, avoidant restrictive food intake disorder, binge eating disorder, other specified feeding or eating disorder, and unspecified feeding or eating disorder as described in The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition. Recommendations for initial medical evaluation and helpful screening measures are discussed.