# picky eater ICD-9 ??



## amartin8 (Mar 25, 2011)

One of our providers uses "picky eater" as a diagnosis code quite often, I found 2 ICD-9 codes that I thought MAY be possible but was wondering if anyone knew of a code that would be better fit for this ??

the two codes I found were:
783.7 - other symptoms concerning nutrition, metabolism, and development
OR
269.9 - unspecified nutritional deficiency

any help would be appreciated!
Allyson


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## rmickalich (Mar 25, 2011)

*picky eater*

I am also curious what other use for this, because I have personally used "difficulty in feeding"; 783.3.


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## ohn0disaster (Mar 25, 2011)

I definitely do not agree with using 269.9, mainly because that is not what is stated. Just because a patient is a picky eater does not mean that they have a nutritional deficiency of any sort. I agree with using code *783.3*. This code has no age restriction and can be applied to any patient who has feeding problems. 

https://www.supercoder.com/articles...-age-limit-to-feeding-difficulties-code-5095/

Hope this helps!


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## mitchellde (Mar 25, 2011)

being a picky eater is not necessarily a problem.  and is not necessarily a feeding problem.  I go for V69.1 Inappropriate diet and eating habits, under problems related to lifestyle..... 783 is a category for Symptoms concerning nutrition, metabolism, and development and 783.3 Feeding difficulties and mismanagement shows that some form of issue between the caregiver and the patient exists for feeding difficulties.  So if the patient just is a picky eater and therefore is setting themselves up for a bad lifestyle then V69.1 fits nicely.  So more information from the original poster would help make the determination.


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## NaliniAAPC (Mar 25, 2011)

Hi,
I too agree with Debra,picky eater ICD-9-V69.1(Inappropriate diet and eating habits) and it is not an feeding difficulty.

Regards,
Nalini CPC


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## amartin8 (Mar 28, 2011)

Thank you all for your input 

Debra - you are right I would need more info from the provider to find out if there are any other issues besides just "picky eater"  I did read a few articles about this more in adults though interestingly enough and found they are trying to get a medical diagnosis for this, so I guess it would have to be looked at more thoroughly to see if the child is simply just a "picky eater" or if any other things are going on with the little guy!  Thanks!

I will also look at the 783.3 and agree the 269.9 would be labeling the patient with a deficiency they may not necessarily have!

Again thanks for all your input it is much appreciated!
Allyson


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## ohn0disaster (Mar 28, 2011)

As a parent of a picky eater, I'd have to say that every time my son tells me, "No, Mommy! I CAN'T LIKE IT!", I consider this a problem!! Lol. Anyway, yeah, I agree it definitely depends on the documentation. If you happen to see this written as a DX often, I'd go to the doctor and ask him/her to elaborate in his/her documentation to specify whether this is creating a problem or not. That way you can more easily determine whether it warrants a numerical code or a V-code...


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