Rumination disorder is the regular regurgitation of food that occurs for at least one month. When someone regurgitates their food, they do not appear to be making an effort, stressed, upset, or disgusted. If occurring while the person has another mental disorder (e.g., intellectual developmental disorder), it is severe enough to warrant independent clinical attention. 

 

Once a physical cause for rumination disorder has been ruled out, the most common way rumination disorder is treated involves breathing exercises and habit reversal. A child with rumination disorder is taught to recognize the signs and situations when rumination is likely, and then they learn diaphragmatic breathing techniques to use after eating that prevent them from regurgitating their food. They eventually learn to prevent the rumination habit by replacing it with deep breathing techniques.

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Because it is a functional GI disorder, rumination is not caused by an infection or by inflammation. In some children, rumination occurs at times of significant stress, as a manifestation of rejection, or in children who have previously suffered a more serious eating disorder such as bulimia nervosa.Rumination is the focused attention on the symptoms of one's distress, and on its possible causes and consequences, as opposed to its solutions. Both ruminationand worry are associated with anxiety and other negative emotional states; however, its measures have not been unified.

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Rumination disorder most often occurs in infants and very young children (between 3 and 12 months), and in children with intellectual disabilities. It is rare in older children, adolescents, and adults. It may occur slightly more often in boys than in girls, but few studies of the disorder exist to confirm this.

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