Picky eating to the extreme: Do you know someone who suffers from this?

Perhaps you steer clear of creamy sauces or don't eat anything orange. Maybe you cannot tolerate dairy or detest any foods that are crunchy on the outside and mushy on the inside. Most of us have some kind of eating quirk. But what if you were such a picky eater that your diet was narrowed down to just a few food choices?

What if you felt intense stress in social situations when appetizers are passed or the buffet is full of food you know you cannot stomach? What if professional networking, friendships, or even marriages were ruined because of what you wouldn't eat?

Researchers from the Duke Center for Eating Disorders say that picky eating to this extreme could torment thousands of people. Nancy Zucker, the director of the center based at Duke University, says that this illness has not previously been recognized but is now labeled as selective eating disorder.

Sufferers often eat only a few foods, which can be very embarrassing, stressful and interfere with healthy functioning in other areas of their lives. Despite what "normal" eaters might think, selective eating disorder does not arise out of stubbornness, Zucker says.

Zucker began investigating the disorder's prevalence this summer by creating an online registry for picky eaters. Only five months later, 11,000 people have begun the survey and 7,500 people have completed it, many more than the center's researchers expected.

Although formal analysis is pending, Zucker says some preliminary findings are already clear:

* It is distinct from other disorders. Because the survey was designed to extract people with anorexia, bulimia, and obsessive compulsive disorder, Zucker reports that selective eating is its own distinct, separate illness.

* There are shared tastes. Survey results so far show that selective eaters have a tendency to bland, processed, and salty foods. Cited as favorites are French fries and bacon, with fruits and vegetables often avoided.

* Selective eating -- and other eating disorders -- for some could be rooted in unpleasant dining experiences from early childhood. If dinner time is tense or coercive, Zucker says it puts kids at risk for developing eating disorders later in life. She suggests having shared meals regularly, exposing children to a variety of foods (even if they only smell it), and keeping meal time fun.

* The disorder can be eased with support from other sufferers and with treatment. Zucker helps selective eaters feel more comfortable with their limited choices, helping loved ones accept their diets, and in calming the embarrassment that causes people to try to hide or lie about their illness. There are limits, however, and Zucker admits, "We don't know yet how much they can be pushed."

While one man with selective eating disorder jokes he eats a "four-year-old's dream diet," he also says of his diet that consists of primarily four foods, "If I could snap my fingers and change, I would."

Are you a picky eater? Do you know anyone who suffers this much or only eats a few foods?