Which statement best characterizes infantile anorexia?

Which statement best characterizes infantile anorexia?

• A. A child's refusal to eat adequate amounts of food for at least 1 month and not due to a GI disorder or other medical condition, nor following a traumatic event
• B. A child's refusal to eat only during illness
• C. A child with normal appetite but limited intake due to family rules
• D. A child with weight gain despite poor appetite

Answer: (A)

Infantile anorexia is a feeding disturbance in which a child persistently refuses to eat adequate amounts for a prolonged period, and this occurs in the absence of any medical illness or GI disorder and without a traumatic event or other emotional cause accounting for the poor intake. The statement that describes refusing to eat enough for at least a month and explicitly rules out medical illness or a traumatic event fits this definition, highlighting both the duration and the medical/psychological exclusions that distinguish this condition from normal illness-related appetite loss or behaviorally triggered feeding issues. Other options don’t fit because: - Refusing to eat only during illness is linked to the illness itself, not a persistent, unexplained feeding disorder. - Normal appetite with limited intake due to family rules points to a family- or behaviorally driven feeding problem, not infantile anorexia. - Weight gain despite poor appetite contradicts the pattern of insufficient intake that typically leads to weight loss or poor growth in this condition.

Infantile anorexia is a feeding disturbance in which a child persistently refuses to eat adequate amounts for a prolonged period, and this occurs in the absence of any medical illness or GI disorder and without a traumatic event or other emotional cause accounting for the poor intake. The statement that describes refusing to eat enough for at least a month and explicitly rules out medical illness or a traumatic event fits this definition, highlighting both the duration and the medical/psychological exclusions that distinguish this condition from normal illness-related appetite loss or behaviorally triggered feeding issues.

Other options don’t fit because:

• Refusing to eat only during illness is linked to the illness itself, not a persistent, unexplained feeding disorder.

• Normal appetite with limited intake due to family rules points to a family- or behaviorally driven feeding problem, not infantile anorexia.

• Weight gain despite poor appetite contradicts the pattern of insufficient intake that typically leads to weight loss or poor growth in this condition.