Rumination disorder

[Raeanne Dimick]

Rumination is an eating disorder characterized by regurgitation of food after eating. Regurgitation may be voluntary.

Some people with rumination disorder are aware that the behavior is socially unacceptable and try to disguise or hide it.
If people limit how much they eat (to prevent others from seeing them regurgitate), they may lose weight or develop nutritional deficiencies.
Doctors diagnose rumination disorder in people who report repeatedly regurgitating food for a month or longer.
Behavioral modification techniques may help.

People with this disorder repeatedly regurgitate food after eating, typically every day. They have no nausea and do not retch involuntarily. People may rechew the regurgitated food and then spit it out or swallow it again.
Rumination disorder may occur in infants, children, adolescents, or adults.
Unlike vomiting, which is forceful and typically caused by a disorder, regurgitation is not forceful and may be voluntary. However, people may report that they cannot stop themselves from doing it.
Some people are aware that the behavior is socially unacceptable and try to disguise it by putting their hand over their mouth or coughing. Some avoid eating with other people and do not eat before a social activity or work so that they do not regurgitate in public.
Some people limit how much they eat. People who spit out the regurgitated material or who greatly limit how much they eat may lose weight or develop nutritional deficiencies.