Fussy Eaters – How do Parents Tackle Them?

 

Fussy Eaters – How do Parents Tackle Them?

Why are some kids so fussy about food? There are kids who will eat only semisolids, some kids fill mouth pockets with food and don’t swallow, some kids puke as soon as they are exposed to certain foods. Mothers or care takers are running behind kids to feed them and are continuously trying to entertain them while they eat. It turns out there are umpteen number of reasons your child may turn up his nose at mealtimes.  20% to 50% of kids are described by their parents as picky eaters. If a picky eater isn’t getting enough good nutrition because of being too selective, it can lead to both short and long-term nutrient deficiencies and other problems.

Fussy eaters are a pain for the parents. Parents are at loss of ideas, on dealing with such picky eaters.

A baby can seem picky for dozens of reasons -- or no reason at all. It is important to understand WHY Your Child Is Fussy.

They may have an immature digestive system. They might be teething, or just may not be ready for solid foods as they might be struggling with sensory processing issues. A solution for the problem reasons around understanding possibilities of medical intervention, analysing behaviours, assessing the child’s cognition level, and considering environmental factors that hinder successful feeding habits.

The basics of food problems generally lie in a strained parent-child relationship. Quite often one sees the maid or one of the parents chasing the child around the house with a spoon and a bowl of food. This is not the way to go around feeding the child. The child should be taught to have a little respect for food, and made to sit down in the right place and eat however much he or she wants to eat. You should not force a child to eat more than he can.

Sometimes a child may not like a certain food, or may not be in the mood to eat it at that particular time. If you create an unpleasant scene each time he does not want something, he will begin to dread mealtimes as a weapon against you when he wants to upset you. Or he may even begin to dislike that food item completely. If you leave him be, he may automatically begin to eat it at a later stage. You must keep a lot of healthy snacks ready for your growing child.

Some simple solutions in the absence of any medical condition are:

1)    Make sure kids do take part in a lot of outdoor activities.

2)    Some families see each other only at dinnertime. At this point parents try to find out everything that the child did at school, his grades, etc. They might even discuss unpleasant things that happened at work, or argue, making the child feel uncomfortable. Mealtimes are not the right time to pull up your child for his studies and make him lose his appetite. That can be done later. You must try to make mealtimes pleasant for the entire family. Have light, pleasant conversations and play some good music in the background.

3)    Always maintain a routine for the child to follow. In this way, the child automatically gets hungry around meal times, and eats to his and your satisfaction.

To help your kids develop a healthy relationship with what they are eating and avoid daily dinnertime rows here is what you should know from an occupational therapy perspective. They may have sensory processing dysfunction (SPD).

• A child who is over-sensitive to sensations in the mouth may gag on solid food and avoid strongly flavoured food. Food which is lumpy can also cause gagging.
• Some kids are oversensitive to the smells of food, and seek out bland food as a result.
• A child who is sensory-seeking may dislike bland or soft food and only eat food which is very crunchy, textured or highly flavoured.
• A child who has a sensory-based motor disorder may struggle with the coordination skills needed to use a spoon or knife and fork, and may avoid food that takes too much effort to eat.
• Some children with low muscle tone or poor oral motor coordination may struggle to chew and swallow, and may therefore prefer food which does not need to be chewed

 If this is a new concept for you, and you realize your child may be struggling with SPD in any area, then find a sensory-trained occupational therapist in your area to assess your child.

By

Dr. Mona Shah

Occupational Therapist, Clinical Psychologist