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The Star
07-06-2025
- Health
- The Star
When you're more than a fussy eater
'No, not even strawberries,' is something Mara says a lot. She cannot eat oranges too – in fact, almost no other solid fruit or vegetables, and no cold cooked meat either. She was breaking out in a sweat before her workplace's Christmas dinner, she says. 'For around 30 years, I thought I was just stupid when it came to food and was acting like a toddler.' That was until she spotted a child with similar eating habits on Instagram. 'The mother described her child's behaviour with the word Arfid. 'I thought: Oh my God, that's me.' Arfid stands for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, a condition identified some years ago. 'It's crazy when you live with it your whole life and then suddenly have a name for it,' says Mara, now in her mid-30s. Arfid is not just about being a picky eater. 'There's a difference between things I don't like and things I can't eat,' says Mara. For example, she doesn't like marzipan, but simply can't stomach cooked ham. She compares it to reality television shows when contestants have to try and eat insects or offal. 'In any case, I'm very relieved to know what I have,' says Mara, who is of normal weight. She has since seen a doctor and is weighing whether to see a psychotherapist or a speech therapist who has been recommended for those with an aversion to certain solid foods. Eating is a burden Both adults and children can be affected by Arfid. The condition can lead people to reject foods because of the way they smell or taste, or their consistency or appearance, says medical psychologist Dr Ricarda Schmidt from the Clinic and Polyclinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at the University of Leipzig in Germany. Many children or adults who are affected do not feel hungry, are afraid of eating, or have little appetite. 'Eating is not a pleasure for them, but a burden,' she adds. Sometimes, the aversion to food is so strong that children develop deficiency symptoms or lose weight, she says. 'These children eat so little or so restrictively that they develop physical and psychosocial impairments. 'For example, they avoid children's birthday parties or school trips because of the food.' But the condition is more than just general fussiness or picky eating – a stage many children go through as they develop and which usually passes. 'Arfid is very stressful for the whole family,' says Dr Schmidt. 'Abnormalities often become apparent early on when eating, for example, during breastfeeding or when introducing complementary foods.' Parents should consult a paediatrician to assess the physical consequences. The paediatrician can also determine whether there are any gastrointestinal problems or food allergies. 'You have to assume that the doctor is not familiar with Arfid and will dismiss it as fussiness. 'However, fussiness passes, Arfid does not,' Dr Schmidt cautions. You can also take practical approaches, for example, by making sure the atmosphere at the dinner table is relaxed, even if this can be difficult, she says. 'Parents should convey a sense of enjoyment around food and keep offering rejected foods in bowls on the table so that everyone can help themselves.' A new food should be tried at least 10 times so that you can get used to it, she notes. But it doesn't help to pressure children to eat vegetables, fruit, dairy products, or meat and fish. Many people with Arfid do wish they could eat certain things. 'Some children would like to eat mashed potatoes, but can't overcome their disgust.' Arfid involves rejecting foods because of their smell, taste, consistency or appearance. Mara cannot eat whole oranges, for example, but can manage orange juice without any pulp. Not recognised by all The US diagnostic directory has recognised Arfid since 2013, but some countries still don't. The condition was included in the World Health Organisation's 2022 edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as an eating disorder, but not all countries have adopted this list either. Doctors generally place the condition with other eating disorders. Due to this inconsistent status, it is not clear how many people are affected by Arfid. In Germany – one of the countries with little recognition of Arfid – young people with the disorder are often assumed to have anorexia, says University of Konstanz's Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy in Childhood and Adolescence working group head Professor Dr Andrea Hartmann Firnkorn. 'But people with Arfid don't restrict their food because they want to lose weight. 'They also eat things like chips, pasta and chocolate rolls, for example,' adds the clinical psychologist. Some of the people who are affected may be underweight, but others are a normal weight or are overweight, although they are often malnourished due to their unbalanced diet. Potential causes and treatments Little is known about the causes of Arfid. A genetic predisposition could play a role, especially in those who are sensitive to smells, textures or flavours, or who have an aversion to many foods, says Dr Schmidt. Fear of eating or other Arfid symptoms could also be triggered by early traumatic experiences, such as badly choking as a child, an allergic reaction, being intubated at an early age, or having suffered an illness involving difficulty swallowing. An analysis of 77 studies – although fairly small studies without long-term observation – provides indications of possible therapeutic approaches, says a team led by PhD student Laura Bourne from Britain's University College London in the journal Psychiatry Research . These include family-based therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and in some cases, the additional administration of psychotropic drugs. Doctors would need to tailor the therapy to the individual involved, depending on their main problem and its severity. Prof Firnkorn and her PhD student Julia Engelkamp have launched an online therapy programme at their university, which includes video therapy sessions and self-study modules in which families receive individual support. 'It's important that someone neutral comes in, because the topic of food has often become a battleground,' says Prof Firnkorn. 'We won't make Arfid disappear in 12 weeks. 'Other eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia often require long-term therapy involving around 60 sessions. 'But we want to give families tools they can continue to work with. 'If children currently only eat three to four foods, it will take longer than the therapy to achieve a balanced diet with enough variety.' It is important to take small steps. 'Maybe start with spaghetti and move on to a different type or brand of pasta, and don't add tomato sauce right away,' she says. A sense of achievement is important. 'Help your child realise that they have managed to eat something different.' Slow, but hopeful, progress Mara's diet has also expanded over time. 'I've been able to eat dried tomatoes and olives for five years,' she says. She has also been eating pumpkin and tomato soup for a long time, as long as everything is finely pureed, and she also drinks orange juice without pulp. At the company Christmas dinner, she finally found something else she liked: hummus with pureed beetroot. Meanwhile, she is watchful to avoid transferring the condition to her daughter. She does not spoonfeed her baby food, but gives her soft pieces of food that she can pick up and eat herself. With the now widespread method of baby-led weaning, where an infant determines when to stop breastfeeding, children choose for themselves what to eat from what is on offer. 'You offer something and the child decides for themselves what they want to eat. 'So far, my daughter eats everything and she has a big appetite. 'I hope it stays that way!' – By Simone Humml/dpa
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Black Americans being used as guinea pigs involved universities
In 1871, Henry D. Schmidt, a New Orleans doctor, 'gifted' the crania of 19 formerly enslaved African American and mixed-race individuals to Dr. Emil Ludwig Schmidt at the University of Leipzig to study the racist hypothesis that a person's morality or intelligence could be determined by crevices and bumps of their skull. A century and a half later, in a presumed act of higher consciousness, the German university no longer felt the need to house the ill-gotten skulls and, on Saturday, the remains of those 19 disregarded souls were given a proper burial in New Orleans. Saturday's event at Dillard University took place on the same week that Harvard University announced that it is relinquishing what are believed to be among the earliest photos of enslaved people in the United States. The 1850 images of a father and daughter known as Renty and Delia, who were photographed naked to the waist, were commissioned by Harvard biologist Louis Agassiz to support the theory of polygenism, the idea that human races evolved separately. Harvard would probably still be clutching those photos if Tamara Lanier, an author who says she's a descendant of the father and daughter pictured, hadn't fought a 15-year legal battle with the university. But the photos won't come to her. Renty and Delia's images will now be placed at the International African American Museum in South Carolina, the state where they were enslaved. As I sat through the three-hour service, which included a city acknowledgement by New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, musical tributes and a riveting performance from Dillard University's Theatre Ensemble personifying the 19 human beings we were paying homage to, I couldn't help but think about the history of Black Americans being the guinea pigs for experimentation or examination or the subject of incomplete theories, under the guise of scientific advancement. Or the irony of racist individuals using 'inferior' Black specimens to interrogate complex ideas about human physiology, and still arriving at racist conclusions even with evidence in their possession that contradicts their hypotheses. We live in a moment where there is a persistent effort to erase all knowledge of these atrocities and pretend as if they were just figments of Black folks' imagination. But Eva Baham, who chaired the Cultural Repatriation Committee that brought the remains of the 19 New Orleanians home, said during Saturday's service that the purpose of studying history is 'to move forward. And when we keep our past hidden, we are starting over every day.' The memorial service for Adam Grant, Isaak Bell, Hiram Smith, William Pierson, Henry Williams, John Brown, Hiram Malone, William Roberts, Alice Brown, Prescilla Hatchet, Marie Louise, Mahala, Samuel Prince, John Tolman, Henry Allen, Moses Willis, Henry Anderson and two other unidentified souls was unlike any other I have witnessed. The decedents had transitioned over a century and a half ago; however, their departure from this realm could not have been considered peaceful before this weekend's ceremony. Roughly 200 community members filled the sanctuary of Dillard's Lawless Memorial Chapel to pay their respects to these ancestors who were so horribly disrespected after they died. 'It was emotionally draining because you're trying your best to make some connections and to search and find [that] there's hope,' Freddi Williams Evans, a member of the Cultural Repatriation Committee, told me. 'We could not verify any descendants. And so we have to step in and be their family.' Harvard is letting go not just of the photos of Renty and Delia, but also images of enslaved people known as Alfred, Delia, Drana, Fassena, Jack and Jem. Lanier, who says she's the great-great-great-granddaughter of 'Papa Renty,' said of the settlement with Harvard, 'This pilfered property, images taken without dignity or consent and used to promote a racist psychoscience will now be repatriated to a home where their stories can be told and their humanity can be restored.' As she spoke Wednesday she locked arms with Susanna Moore, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Agassiz, the Harvard biologist. Moore rightly called the work her forefather was doing with the photos 'a deeply racist project.' The combination of Harvard relinquishing its photos and Dillard receiving the remains of those wrongly shipped to a lab overseas means that even in 2025, we are still unpacking just how much dehumanization defined slavery and its aftermath in the United States. Dillard University President Monique Guillory told me it was important to honor the 19 in New Orleans because 'They walked the streets of New Orleans like we do.' Saturday's ceremony ended with African drumming and dancing, and then attendees were led out of the chapel by a jazz band and a traditional New Orleans second line en route to bury the remains of a tormented people, the right way. This article was originally published on
Time of India
01-06-2025
- Science
- Time of India
New Orleans holds burial of repatriated African Americans whose skulls were used in racist research
New Orleans holds burial of repatriated African Americans whose skulls were used in racist research (AP) NEW ORLEANS: New Orleans celebrated the return and burial of the remains of 19 African American people whose skulls had been sent to Germany for racist research practices in the 19th century. On Saturday, a multifaith memorial service including a jazz funeral, one of the city's most distinct traditions, paid tribute to the humanity of those coming home to their final resting place at the Hurricane Katrina Memorial. "We ironically know these 19 because of the horrific thing that happened to them after their death, the desecration of their bodies," said Monique Guillory, president of Dillard University, a historically Black private liberal arts college, which spearheaded the receipt of the remains on behalf of the city. "This is actually an opportunity for us to recognize and commemorate the humanity of all of these individuals who would have been denied, you know, such a respectful send-off and final burial. " The 19 people are all believed to have passed away from natural causes between 1871 and 1872 at Charity Hospital, which served people of all races and classes in New Orleans during the height of white supremacist oppression in the 1800s. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Free P2,000 GCash eGift UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo The hospital shuttered following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The remains sat in 19 wooden boxes in the university's chapel during a service Saturday that also included music from the Kumbuka African Drum and Dance Collective. A New Orleans physician provided the skulls of the 19 people to a German researcher engaged phrenological studies - the debunked belief that a person's skull could determine innate racial characteristics. "All kinds of experiments were done on Black bodies living and dead," said Dr. Eva Baham, a historian who led Dillard University's efforts to repatriate the individuals' remains. "People who had no agency over themselves." In 2023, the University of Leipzig in Germany reached out to the City of New Orleans to find a way to return the remains, Guillory said. The University of Leipzig did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "It is a demonstration of our own morality here in New Orleans and in Leipzig with the professors there who wanted to do something to restore the dignity of these people," Baham said. Dillard University researchers say more digging remains to be done, including to try and track down possible descendants. They believe it is likely that some of the people had been recently freed from slavery. "These were really poor, indigent people in the end of the 19th century, but ... they had names, they had addresses, they walked the streets of the city that we love," Guillory said. "We all deserve a recognition of our humanity and the value of our lives."
NBC News
31-05-2025
- Health
- NBC News
New Orleans holds burial of repatriated African Americans whose skulls were used in racist research
NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans celebrated the return and burial of the remains of 19 African American people whose skulls had been sent to Germany for racist research practices in the 19th century. On Saturday, a multifaith memorial service including a jazz funeral, one of the city's most distinct traditions, paid tribute to the humanity of those coming home to their final resting place at the Hurricane Katrina Memorial. "We ironically know these 19 because of the horrific thing that happened to them after their death, the desecration of their bodies," said Monique Guillory, president of Dillard University, a historically Black private liberal arts college, which spearheaded the receipt of the remains on behalf of the city. "This is actually an opportunity for us to recognize and commemorate the humanity of all of these individuals who would have been denied, you know, such a respectful send-off and final burial." The 19 people are all believed to have passed away from natural causes between 1871 and 1872 at Charity Hospital, which served people of all races and classes in New Orleans during the height of white supremacist oppression in the 1800s. The hospital shuttered following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The remains sat in 19 wooden boxes in the university's chapel during a service Saturday that also included music from the Kumbuka African Drum and Dance Collective. A New Orleans physician provided the skulls of the 19 people to a German researcher engaged phrenological studies — the debunked belief that a person's skull could determine innate racial characteristics. "All kinds of experiments were done on Black bodies living and dead," said Eva Baham, a historian who led Dillard University's efforts to repatriate the individuals' remains. "People who had no agency over themselves." In 2023, the University of Leipzig in Germany reached out to the City of New Orleans to find a way to return the remains, Guillory said. The University of Leipzig did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "It is a demonstration of our own morality here in New Orleans and in Leipzig with the professors there who wanted to do something to restore the dignity of these people," Baham said. Dillard University researchers say more digging remains to be done, including to try and track down possible descendants. They believe it is likely that some of the people had been recently freed from slavery. "These were really poor, indigent people in the end of the 19th century, but ... they had names, they had addresses, they walked the streets of the city that we love," Guillory said. "We all deserve a recognition of our humanity and the value of our lives."
31-05-2025
- Health
New Orleans holds burial of repatriated African Americans whose skulls were used in racist research
NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans celebrated the return and burial of the remains of 19 African American people whose skulls had been sent to Germany for racist research practices in the 19th century. On Saturday, a multifaith memorial service including a jazz funeral, one of the city's most distinct traditions, paid tribute to the humanity of those coming home to their final resting place at the Hurricane Katrina Memorial. 'We ironically know these 19 because of the horrific thing that happened to them after their death, the desecration of their bodies,' said Monique Guillory, president of Dillard University, a historically Black private liberal arts college, which spearheaded the receipt of the remains on behalf of the city. 'This is actually an opportunity for us to recognize and commemorate the humanity of all of these individuals who would have been denied, you know, such a respectful send-off and final burial.' The 19 people are all believed to have passed away from natural causes between 1871 and 1872 at Charity Hospital, which served people of all races and classes in New Orleans during the height of white supremacist oppression in the 1800s. The hospital shuttered following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The remains sat in 19 wooden boxes in the university's chapel during a service Saturday that also included music from the Kumbuka African Drum and Dance Collective. A New Orleans physician provided the skulls of the 19 people to a German researcher engaged phrenological studies — the debunked belief that a person's skull could determine innate racial characteristics. 'All kinds of experiments were done on Black bodies living and dead,' said Dr. Eva Baham, a historian who led Dillard University's efforts to repatriate the individuals' remains. 'People who had no agency over themselves.' In 2023, the University of Leipzig in Germany reached out to the City of New Orleans to find a way to return the remains, Guillory said. The University of Leipzig did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 'It is a demonstration of our own morality here in New Orleans and in Leipzig with the professors there who wanted to do something to restore the dignity of these people,' Baham said. Dillard University researchers say more digging remains to be done, including to try and track down possible descendants. They believe it is likely that some of the people had been recently freed from slavery. 'These were really poor, indigent people in the end of the 19th century, but ... they had names, they had addresses, they walked the streets of the city that we love," Guillory said. 'We all deserve a recognition of our humanity and the value of our lives.'
