Published on 12, July, 2020
My son was diagnosed almost 2 years ago. He is almost 11 years old and due to start mainstream high school in September. He is only 135cm tall. His height and weight are monitored when he attends appointments every 6 months or so. I took him for his most recent appointment and he appears to have lost weight unless they screwed up last time. (His height chart said that he had grown 12cm in 6 months!!).
The problem is, he hardly eats anything. Chicken nuggets, sausages (picked apart while he is eating), fish/fish fingers, meatballs, roast dinner (no veg and only chicken). He will only have cheese spread in a sandwich. School check every day to make sure he is eating his lunch which he does but to be honest I don't think I put enough in his lunchbox because if I put anything other than a sandwich, a frube and a couple of small cake bars he will leave everything else.
We are constantly trying to get him to try different foods but as soon as it hits his lips he is pulling his face. I tried to get him to eat a jelly the other and he gagged on it.
Can anyone help with how I can persuade him to try other things or help in any other way. We are at our wits end.
Thanks guys
We had the same problem a couple of years ago. My kids wouldn't want to eat almoast anything. Back then, I decided to involve them in the process of food preparation. We started with washing the vegetables, cutting them, and mixing the eggs from the omelet until we had gone even to bake some cookies and pies. Our experience went to a whole new level when we went camping. We bought this especially for them this pan [link removed by moderator] and we've let them cook their vegetables in it or make their sandwich. So they had to make their food. And you know what, this helped a lot.
You may want to look up ARFID and methods that can help with it. I wouldn't suggest hiding foods in other food as it may make him feel anxious about the foods he currently is managing if they're tampered with. You need to be up front about it and work with him if trying to introduce new foods. Remember too, some food is better than no food!
en.wikipedia.org/.../restrictive_food_intake_disorder
My daughter is similar no veg apart from potatoes and parsnips. Will eat bacon or breaded chicken mostly cheese pasta for dinner. She has a marmite sandwich bag of crisps and a biscuit at lunchtime.
We were told to focus on quantity that she will eat as trying to get her to eat new food just results in her refusing to eat
Lots of kids use food as a method of control - they very quickly learn that your anxiety over him eating is a perfect way to push all your buttons.
If you make food into a battle, you will lose.
Our daughter was a 'super taster' so it was really difficult to get her to eat a balanced diet - so we made food fun to take all of the stress out of it. The main rules were 'eat the good bits and don't feel you have to clear the plate'.
We made Tetris toast, towers made from fries, what bad words can you made with alphabettis etc. and we understand that kids are not really interested in veg - so small bits decorating tasty things seemed to disappear.
As she got into her teens and began paying attention to what her peers were eating she became more adventurous and now eats almost anything.
Hi,
Sounds like he has a strong interest in 'meaty' flavours (umami is the name for this taste perception).
The items he likes also sound as though they have quite a uniform texture - almost a thick paste type quality.
Some things that came to mind:
Disguising veg in some of these meat products ('Heck' brand do good sausages & burgers(?) with veg mashed into the product)
Making different types of veg mash to see what he may accept
Veg burgers and sausages (give this meaty flavour & texture but give him veg goodness).
Gradually phasing in new foods alongside the ones he likes so he can adjust gradually.
Wondering if your son has had a sensory assessment and what advice he may have been given?
S