Back to Afia

F50 — ICD-10 codes for eating disorders

F50.00 is anorexia nervosa, unspecified — and eating disorder codes carry severity inside the code itself, which almost no other behavioral health family does. Anorexia severity is set by BMI band and bulimia and binge eating disorder by episodes per week, with the thresholds set out against each code in the tabular list. That makes these codes unusually specific and unusually easy to get wrong: F50.01, F50.02, F50.2 and F50.81 are not billable — and they do not all need the same thing: F50.01, F50.02 and F50.81 take a sixth character, while F50.2 is one shorter and takes a fifth. There is also no F50.1 at all. Below: the exact thresholds, the full table and what pairs with them.

This page is billing and administrative reference. It describes what a code means and whether it can be submitted. It is not clinical advice and does not tell anyone what to diagnose.

Anorexia nervosa — severity is BMI

ICD-10-CM names the BMI band for each severity level. These are the official thresholds, not a rule of thumb:

CodeTitleBillable?
F50.0Anorexia nervosa (incomplete)No
F50.00Anorexia nervosa, unspecifiedYes
F50.01Anorexia nervosa, restricting type (incomplete)No
F50.010Anorexia nervosa, restricting type, mildYes
F50.011Anorexia nervosa, restricting type, moderateYes
F50.012Anorexia nervosa, restricting type, severeYes
F50.013Anorexia nervosa, restricting type, extremeYes
F50.014Anorexia nervosa, restricting type, in remissionYes
F50.019Anorexia nervosa, restricting type, unspecifiedYes
F50.02Anorexia nervosa, binge eating/purging type (incomplete)No
F50.020Anorexia nervosa, binge eating/purging type, mildYes
F50.021Anorexia nervosa, binge eating/purging type, moderateYes
F50.022Anorexia nervosa, binge eating/purging type, severeYes
F50.023Anorexia nervosa, binge eating/purging type, extremeYes
F50.024Anorexia nervosa, binge eating/purging type, in remissionYes
F50.029Anorexia nervosa, binge eating/purging type, unspecifiedYes

For anorexia the sixth character is the severity, and ICD-10-CM records a BMI beside each one as an inclusion term:

Because the threshold is written into the code set, a recorded BMI in the note is what supports the severity character. Where the note does not establish one, the honest code is the unspecified sixth character (F50.019 or F50.029) rather than a guess.

Bulimia and binge eating — severity is episodes per week

The same idea, a different measure. For bulimia the count is inappropriate compensatory behaviours; for binge eating disorder it is binge episodes. Note the difference in shape: bulimia takes a fifth character (F50.20–F50.25) while binge eating disorder takes a sixth (F50.810–F50.819).

CodeTitleBillable?
F50.2Bulimia nervosa (incomplete)No
F50.20Bulimia nervosa, unspecifiedYes
F50.21Bulimia nervosa, mildYes
F50.22Bulimia nervosa, moderateYes
F50.23Bulimia nervosa, severeYes
F50.24Bulimia nervosa, extremeYes
F50.25Bulimia nervosa, in remissionYes
F50.81Binge eating disorder (incomplete)No
F50.810Binge eating disorder, mildYes
F50.811Binge eating disorder, moderateYes
F50.812Binge eating disorder, severeYes
F50.813Binge eating disorder, extremeYes
F50.814Binge eating disorder, in remissionYes
F50.819Binge eating disorder, unspecifiedYes

The bands are the same numbers for both:

The rest of the family, and the gap

CodeTitleBillable?
F50.82Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorderYes
F50.83Pica in adultsYes
F50.84Rumination disorder in adultsYes
F50.89Other specified eating disorderYes
F50.9Eating disorder, unspecifiedYes

There is no F50.1. The family runs F50.0, F50.2, F50.8, F50.9 — the gap is not a code you have failed to find.

Note also that pica and rumination disorder each have an adult code and a childhood code. F50.83 and F50.84 are the adult ones; pica in infancy and childhood is F98.3 and rumination disorder in infancy and childhood is F98.21, and ICD-10-CM marks each pair as never coded together.

Where it is not coded

Two exclusions catch people out, and both are Excludes1 — never reported alongside an F50 code:

ICD-10-CM also separates psychogenic loss of appetite, which sits at F50.89, from R63.0.

DSM-5 crosswalk

This family is unusually close to DSM-5, because ICD-10-CM adopted DSM-5's severity anchors directly. The BMI bands and the weekly episode counts above originate as DSM-5-TR severity criteria; ICD-10-CM then records them in its own tabular list as inclusion terms against each code, which is why the same numbers appear in both. A clinician working from DSM-5 therefore already has the finding the severity character needs.

Two DSM-5 diagnoses that did not exist in DSM-IV have their own codes here: binge eating disorder at F50.81- and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder at F50.82.

CPT codes billed with eating disorder diagnoses

CPTServiceTime
90791Psychiatric diagnostic evaluation (no medical services)—
90832Individual psychotherapy16–37 minutes
90834Individual psychotherapy38–52 minutes
90837Individual psychotherapy53 minutes or more
90847Family psychotherapy, patient present50 minutes typical
90853Group psychotherapy—

A 50-minute session is 90834, not 90837 — 90837 begins at 53 minutes. CMS also sets a floor: psychotherapy under 16 minutes is not reported with these codes at all.

Check it live

Afia is free and answers these by voice or chat — find a code from a condition name, confirm whether a code is billable, validate a whole list at once, or check a session length against a CPT time band. No sign-up.

Frequently asked questions

Is F50.01 billable?

No. F50.01 is incomplete and needs a sixth character for severity — F50.010 through F50.019. F50.02 and F50.81 are the same shape. F50.2 is one character shorter, so it needs a fifth: F50.20 through F50.25.

What is the ICD-10 code for anorexia nervosa?

F50.00 is anorexia nervosa, unspecified. If the type and severity are documented, use the six-character code: F50.010 to F50.019 for restricting type, F50.020 to F50.029 for binge eating/purging type.

How is eating disorder severity coded?

Severity is part of the code. Anorexia uses BMI bands: mild is a BMI of 17 or above, moderate 16.0 to 16.99, severe 15.0 to 15.99, extreme below 15.0. Bulimia and binge eating disorder use episodes per week: mild 1 to 3, moderate 4 to 7, severe 8 to 13, extreme 14 or more.

What is the ICD-10 code for binge eating disorder?

F50.81 with a sixth character for severity, so F50.810 through F50.819. F50.81 on its own is not billable.

Is there an F50.1 code?

No. The F50 family runs F50.0, F50.2, F50.8 and F50.9. There is no F50.1.

Check a code with Afia — free

Codes on this page were verified against the CMS ICD-10-CM code sets for FY2026 and FY2027 (FY2027 effective 1 October 2026). Last reviewed 19 September 2026. Verify against the current official code set before submitting.