ABSTRACT
Medical knowledge and practice have brought about new conditions, and already we know that in less than half of the cases attending a children’s hospital out-patient clinic is there any physical illness at all. One can hardly fail now, therefore, to observe emotional disorders and developmental anomalies of personality. Through analysis of older children and of adults very clear insight is gained into the many ways in which appetite becomes involved in defence against anxiety and depression. In the histories of all types of psychiatric case, there may be found appetite disorders, and these disorders may be clearly interwoven with the other symptoms. The theory of psychiatric illness must be modified to allow for the fact that in many cases the history of an abnormality reaches back to the first months or even the first weeks.
