Treatment for Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorders

Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorders (OSFED) is a clinical category that describes eating disorders that do not clearly meet the criteria for anorexia, bulimia, avoidant and restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), or binge eating disorder. While OSFED doesn’t clearly meet the criteria of more well-known eating disorders, OSFED is still a very common and serious diagnosis requiring treatment.

Examples of OSFED include atypical anorexia where the individual is not at very low body weight or experienced significant weight loss, bulimia where purging behaviors do not occur at a high frequency or duration, binge eating of low frequency or limited duration, purging disorder, or night eating syndrome. Additionally, this category can include individuals who are having difficulty with orthorexia or “clean eating” behaviors, eating disorders complicated by diabetes, or excessive or compulsive exercise.

Some similarities with other eating disorders may be present with concerns related to weight and shape, body image disturbances, and dieting and other worrisome food behaviors, and co-occurring anxiety, depression or substance use disorders.

Signs of OSFED include:

• Disturbance of eating habits
• Intense fear of weight gain
• Significant weight fluctuations or loss
• Preoccupation with food, calories, weight, or shape
• Compulsive exercising
• Purging with or without binge eating through self-induced vomiting, laxative or diuretic abuse, or compulsive exercising
• Skipping meals
• Impaired functioning of the immune system
• Distorted body image
• Obsession with only eating healthy or pure foods
• Shame related to body and eating
• Obsessive or compulsive exercising

It is important to note that this is not an exhaustive list and that conditions that are categorized under OSFED warrant a careful assessment and specialized treatment plan.

Our Approach to Patient Care

We use our nutrition philosophy, the E.A.T model, rooted in Exposure and Response Prevention as well as a multi-faceted therapeutic approach to address the challenges of eating disorder recovery from OSFED. We involve families throughout the process and value the importance of a strong support system. Your story is unique and we want to work together to develop a treatment plan that works for you.

At Reasons Eating Disorder Center, we treat OSFED across all levels of care including inpatient, residential, partial hospitalization programs, and intensive outpatient programs with strong medical, therapeutic, nursing and dietary monitoring and interventions. OSFED eating disorder treatment includes thorough assessments and collaborative planning of care to understand and address your unique situation.