Picky Eaters
How to Help Your Child LOVE Food – 3 Tips for an Extreme Picky Eater Diagnosis
There are many reasons your child could be avoiding food and has an extreme picky eater diagnosis. As mentioned previously in our discussion of picky eating disorder, it is common for children to struggle at mealtime.
Typically, fussy eaters grow into more well-rounded eating habits. In fact, medical surveys show that about 80% of fussy eaters go on to become well-rounded, healthy eaters.
Sometimes there is a reason beyond simply being an extreme picky eater that makes mealtimes very stressful. And stressful not just for the parents, but the children as well!
Children who have sensory integration challenges experience symptoms that make it difficult to eat at times. This includes children with sensory processing disorder and autism spectrum disorder.
Additionally, children with motor skills challenges physically have a difficult time with all the components of eating. Certain conditions makeit quite difficult to complete the necessary motor skills functions and neurological processes to:
- feed themselves,
- chew,
- manipulate food orally, and
- swallow
This includes children with dyspraxia, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, spina bifida and more.
Finally, there are many children who deal with anxiety, poor focus, and poor coping skills in social and school environments. These types of challenges can make mealtimes especially difficult as well.
Meet “Chomp” and “Champ” – Two Very Different Types of Extreme Picky Eater
Meet Champ.
Champ is an extreme picky eater, but he is also known to chew non-food items. Champ tends to use his hands instead of silverware. He is sensitive to textures in food and refuses to try new and unfamiliar foods.
He has a preference for specific foods and avoids others. Champ has issues with the oral sensation of food in the mouth. Frustratingly, Champ will often have meltdowns during mealtimes when he is asked to try new foods.
Champ faces sensory challenges. He has a low threshold for sensory overwhelm, and that includes oral sensations. That means he is sensitive to textures and smells.
Champ also has trouble processing the sensations of interoception, feeling of hunger or of being full. He is a child who is sensitive, anxious and highly strung.
Champ also has dyspraxia, which affects his fine motor skills planning. He finds it difficult to move food around in his mouth. In addition he finds it difficult to coordinate the movement of the tongue, lips and jaw. He has a difficult time swallowing and using utensils.
Meet Chomp.
Chomp chews on everything. He puts his fingers in his mouth, he chews on his collar and his pencil.
Chomp has a high sensory threshold, meaning he often needs higher levels of input before he can really process the sensation. He is unaware of unfamiliar textures, smells and tastes.
He will eat everything with the assumption that it tastes the same. Chomp feels the need to chew and bite constantly in order to self-regulate emotionally. Without additional or constant input, he faces anxiety or difficulty with focus and concentration.
In general, Chomp is sensory seeking. He isn’t aware of smells, tastes and textures in his food, and tends to overfill his mouth.
Being Aware of Chomp or Champ’s Picky Eater Needs
There are very distinct differences between Chomp and Champ. Their sensory integration acts differently. Their neurological processes are interrupted but expressed in different ways. Understanding a child’s underlying developmental gaps, neurological processes, and the symptoms within which they are presented are key to being able to create successful mealtimes.
How to Help Your Extreme Picky Eater
Do you have a Chomp or Champ on your hands? If you do, proper therapeutic intervention is necessary in order to set your child up for a lifetime of healthy eating habits.
Work with a pediatric occupational therapist to devise strategies specific to your child’s needs and your family’s lifestyle goals. If you don’t have convenient access to a local occupational therapist, you can take advantage of our virtual consultation options through CoordiKids to speak with Marga.
Try out our Coordi Consultation with Marga Grey, pediatric occupational therapist specializing in sensory processing disorders.
If you have a picky eater who doesn’t necessarily have an underlying developmental disability, a great place to get help is with a registered dietitian. Dietitians consult with families to assist on a number of levels.
Dietitians provide schedules of healthy eating, and build proper ingredient and meal planning strategies for overall good health. They also help to develop customized plans for managing allergens and special health and developmental needs.
Ideas to Tempt That Extreme Picky Eater!
Here are a few suggestions to get you started on the path to happy eating in the meantime!
1. Have kiddos name their favorite foods.
Giving kids the opportunity to talk about their favorite foods opens up the discussion to talk about their least favorite foods. By finding out what your child’s favorite foods are, it gives you the opportunity to include more of these foods into their meals.
Opening up this discussion will also help in identifying if your child is a Chomp or a Champ, are they a picky eater? Or could there possibly an SPD or sensory modulation issue?
If you have a Chomp, he/she may not be aware that their perception of food, isn’t the same as everyone else’s. Opening up the conversation will help both you and your child begin the pathway to identifying the root cause of their eating habits.
2. Have kiddos help meal plan.
By having children help meal plan, you are allowing them to feel included in the decision-making process. To a child, that is a very powerful gesture. When you include your child in making the meal plan, you are learning their likes and dislikes.
You are providing an opportunity to educate them on healthy nutritionally balanced meals, and if they are a Chomp or Champ you are helping to alleviate the stress by pre planning meals with the inclusion of your child.
3. Have kiddos help make dinner.
Kids want to be included. They want to spend time with the people around them and feel like they are a part of the daily routine. While mealtimes can be stressful, they are one of the most valuable times of the day to check in with your child.
Allowing them to be part of the preparation process empowers them and gives them a sense of ownership. This will carry over into pride at tasting what they’ve helped to cook.
For more mealtime tips with picky eaters, read pediatric dietitian Amandine Barnett’s tips in “Get Your Family Eating Together for Success.”