550 Chicken? No Way…

Abstract

Background and aims:Food phobia is a rare condition that can significantly affect the well-being of adolescents. Usually the diagnosis is suspected after a good anamnesis and the behavioral intervention is the most effective approach. Methods: Case report.Results: Female 14-years old adolescent, previously healthy. She was sent to the consultation because of food refusal and a weight loss of 14kg in the past 9 months. This situation started after a choking while eating chicken meat that caused a phobia for solid foods. Since then, she started to feed herself only with small quantities of liquid soup, liquid yoghurts and milk, which caused the weight loss and a secondary amenorrhea in the last 3 months, without body distortion. Her body mass index was 18kg/m 2 and the physical exam was normal. The blood analysis showed a mild anemia (hemoglobin 12g/dl) with a normal biochemistry, including thyroid function and lipid profile. With this picture, we started a behavioral training, reinforcing the importance of healthy eating habits, introducing gradually the solid foods, with progressive tolerance. She recovered the lost weight in 8 months and, since then, she had normal eating patterns, except for the difficulty in eating chicken meat, which persisted for almost 18 months.