Has anyone heard of "selective eating disorder"? My 7 year old son has always been a picky eater. What is different about him, though, is that he's not a typical picky eater. I have read book after book and read many articles online about picky eating. They are comical for me to read because he is so beyond picky eating. His doctor thinks I over react. One day I decided, instead of looking up "picky eater", I searched for "childhood eating disorder". BINGO. I found a disorder called Selective Eating Disorder.
Let me discribe my son's eating habits. I have made a list of things he will eat and there are only about 15 items on that list. Nothing of nutrition. He has NEVER eaten a vegetable and the sight of one on his plate makes him vomit. We have tried "when he's hungry he'll eat" theory. A symptom of this disorder is that they will allow themselve to be hungry and can go days with hardly and food. They see food as discusting. When I asked my son about this he told me that most food looks very gross to him. Absolutly nothing has gotten him to eat healthy food. I could go on and on about his symptoms.
Does anyone else out there have a child like this? I'm so frustrated with people telling me all of the remedies for a picky eater. They don't work with him. We really pracice positive reinforcement to reduce his anxiety about food but it doesn't help him eat healthier.
He is normal weight and overall healthy. He doesn't eat healthy food. The small amount he does eat is very high carb food. Only one kind of friut, no veggies at all. No meat. He's afraid to try new food. If he does, he usually throws up. He says he feels different than other kids because of the way he eats and that he doesn't like being like this. I want to help him so much but I don't know where to find help for him. Any help would appreciated.
You just described my 13 yr old for to a tee and now i feel horrible for not ever researching it. Really it is a family joke, now I feel sad to say that! Thank you... I am going to look into this.
My son doesn't express any concerns about the way he is... I have done everything and finally he just eats what he wants.
None of my other kids are like this though I have been accused many times of not disciplining him right about it...
Thanks again... please keep me posted on what you find out. I am going to start googling this right now
Yeah Nancy. Great mother's intuition. Thank heavens for technology. Have you gone back to your ped with this info? Surely they would have the resources to research this further. Or how about a nutritionist or a psychiatrist even? (Since most other eating disorders are treated this way.) If your current ped won't listen, go to another. I believe mother knows best, and you just proved it.
Sorry I don't have any more help. Good luck in your search.
Wow you just described my 3 1/2 yr old, yeah alot of people think kids are picky eaters at this age, but he wont touch meat at all, ive even tried hiding it ha, that didnt work, then he wouldnt even eat that because the meat had been in it, not a big fruit eater, no veggies except green beans, that is the only thing he eats, grean beans, hot dogs, vienna sausages, and spam, mashed pot., mac n cheese (only a little) (the only "meats" if you want to call them that he will eat), and that is about all he will eat nothing else. And like your son he is a healthy weight and height for his age, he will be four in July and he weighs 39.5 pounds and he is (well really i cant remember) but he is tall for his age also. Nothing worked for us, i have tried everything i was told and ever thought of, nothing worked. Good Luck in this.
Has he been tested for autism? SED is common in young people with austistic disorders.
What I've read was that it's more about taste, texture, smell and sight. It can stem from an incident. Say you've gagged on meat before, you may develop a fear of choking and become scared of eating anything chewy. It has also been linked to OCD and a fear of dirt and contamination over how the food has been prepared. I realize this is difficult mostly for your son.
Resetting patterns of behavior is commonly done using cognitive behavioral therapy. Look for a therapist that can deal with this. Exposure tends to work well. Say he eats only soup; put noodles in it and then work your way up to chicken.
If you are sure this is what he has, then don't make a big deal of his eating habits. Just fix him his foods and move on. But I would recommend finding a therapist for him or at least having him tested for autism.
I feel so badly for him to be so repulsed by most foods, and for you to be suffering along with him. (I went through a short period of depression years ago, and I remember that nothing looked or tasted appealing - eating was just work and that's no fun at all!)
Excellent job trusting your "mommy instincts". My god-daughter has similar food issues, but to a lesser degree. My girlfriend was able to get her referred to see a nutritionist and it helped. If your pediatrician doesn't take your findings seriously, I think you should seek another - especailly since your son is sometimes at the point of vomitting when most kids would just say "I didn't like that".
I sure do hope this gets better for both of you - I'll be sure not to complain about my kiddos not eating enough veggies anymore, knowing what you're going through!
How is his energy level? Be careful of vitamin and mineral depletion. My daughter and I got this after several years of unhealthy eating (high carb and fast food). Will your son take vitamin supplements? Sorry I can't help much. My daughter is a good eater. We've had to make some better choices around our house. I, now, don't buy junk AT ALL.
All my children are picky. My oldest was the worst, I think I would put her in between picky and what your describing. BUt when she got in high school around 10th grade she started changing. She had never ate bread her whole life and all of a sudden she liked bread, she never ate any vegetables now she eats salads more than anything. She is still picky about lots of things, she still wont go near chicken but she has started trying things you could bribe her to try before. I know this wasnt much help for your now situation but maybe some hope for the future. I still have to find answers for my other picky ones.. My 6 yr old only wants Ramen noodles most of the time......UGHHHHHHHHHH!
My 5 year old has the same attitude toward food. After talking to alot of mom's you will find that your son is not alone in his food choices. Most children tend to follow a bland, carb loaded diet...and will only eat anything that is beige! My daughter eats bread, crackers, cookies, french fries, cereal..everything else is a struggle.
Follow your Peditricians advice, he is measuring what matters - growth and develpment. If your child is healthy I would not start labeling him with a disorder. That is something that could cause more damage than simply accepting the fact that he is choosy about what he eats. Labeling his behavior with something that could be seen as a psychological disorder may cause long term ramifications.
My autistic son has a limited diet, too. He does not throw up, though. We are headed to a nutritionalist for help.
If your son is experiencing anxiety over food, you might try therapy. It sounds like he wants to get better, but doesn't know how. Therapists can help work through anxiety through baby steps. Or there is medication to help with anxiety. Speech Therapists can do food therapy as well. In the meantime, you could use vitamins to supplement his nutrition. They make liquid vitamins that could be mixed into a drink. There are also cookbooks out there that talk about ways to hide vegies, etc in commonly eaten food. I know there is one by Seinfeild's wife, but there are others, too. Deceptively Delicious seems like a title to one of them.
Plus, if he is growing at a normal rate, you are doing something right. Hang in there.
Good luck.
Susan
My son is the same as your son,but he does not throw up. He is 14 and lives on carbs with an occasional chicken nugget. He loves pancakes and ramen noodles. He has never eaten a vegetable unless you count French Fries. He will eat an orange about twice a year. I took him to the Doctor this past August. I told the Doctor about my son's eating habits. They ran some bloodwork on him to make sure that he was not anemic or have other problems. All of his tests were normal. He is healthy and the Doctor said for me to get him to try other foods but not to worry about it or force food on him. Well, that is easier said than done. I was just relieved that he was healthy. I give him a multivitamin every day and he does love milk. I don't have any answers,but I wanted to let you know that you are not alone on this. Hopefully,by the time your son is a teenager, he will eat better than my son does. My son is very active. He likes to skateboard and play basketball, so he is constantly burning up the few calories that he does eat. I guess I will follow my Dcotor's advice and try not to worry about it so much. I hope this helped.
I don't have a child with selective eating disorder, but I do encounter unusual eating habits as I work with children who have autism and this is a common characteristic. As a parent, we all want our children to eat healthy and I understand about all the advice others give that really just makes us feel like bad parents. Anyway, it has been my experience that the kiddos seem to thrive despite the unhealthy food. Here's some examples that might make you feel better. I know a child who only eats french fries--that's it, every meal! He's only missed one day of therapy in years--he's healthy. Another kiddo actually licks the salt off of food rather than eating it. She does eat some foods, but her typical lunch consists of pepperoni, doritos, and noodles. There is another theory out there about kids who eat a high carb content. They say that type of food can act like an opiate in their system which is why they crave that particular type of food. Alot of parents i know I have put their children on casein/gluten free diets, however, if your child is so picky, he probably wouldn't go for the food. I would just say to hang in there and keep trying. Let him eat what he is willing to eat--at least it's more than only one thing!
Maybe you could take him to a nutritionist(if you haven't already done so) and get some ideas about what you could do to supplement his diet with vitamins or protein powders so he gets the nutrients he needs.
Hi Nancy,
For what it's worth I am sensing that this is a past life issue for your son. I would recommend a spiritual counselor/past life regressionist to help him connect with and overcome this problem.
Love,
Z
I don't have a picky eater, but I did see a story on the National Geographic Channel of a British child who would only eat butter cookies and crackers. I believe he vomitted also if he was forced to eat anything different. It took several doctors, but they found out that he had some kind of acid reflux and crackers were the only thing that didn't upset his system. The child was much smaller than his siblings and was clearly unhealthy. Just thought I would throw this out there.
I just read this great book called "The Kid friendly ADHD Autism cookbook" http://ani.autistics.org/dsm4-aspergers.html It says that some kids eat only carbs/sugars (carbs convert to sugar) because of the opiate high they get from it. These children have to have a limmited diet of these things, which is hard at first because that's all they want to eat. I put my girls on a gluten free diet and it was really hard at first. But they are finely eating the gluten free bread and pasta, love GF pancakes and waffles and french toast. Gluten is in most forms of wheat, in oats, and an additive in many pre packaged foods such as modified food starch and malt flavoring.
After my girls had been gluten free for a month and a half or so I wasn't really sure it was helping so I put them back on regular foods and bam- my oldest daughter was a monster! She had such a strong reaction a day or two after going off the diet. Gluten definitely is an opiate to her.
So, as hard as it is to take away the one thing he'll eat, it might be neccesary to severely limit the starches and replace them with a gluten free, sugar free and/ or starch free (as some kids, mentioned in the book, have to have a selective starch diet!) it might be just what he needs!
BTW, I have always had a starch only choice of diet until I started eating the GF diet with my kids. My choice of foods has definitely changed- something about the opiate reaction in my body inhibiting me from enjoying other things. I've known about GF diets for a long time but hadn't heard of specific starch diets until yesterday. http://www.lowcarb.ca/atkins-diet-and-low-carb-plans/specific-carbohydrate-diet.html
If he is of healthy weight then what is the big deal? My child is the same. I was the same as a child. Of course I had anxiety issues and stomach issues due to an infection they found in my digestive system. I am not sure if that is why I was like that...But I eventually later as a teen ate meat, eggs, and other foods. Food use to disgust me too. If he is healthy i.e never gets sick of his stomach, etc. I would not worry. Unless Medical Doctors have told you he has problems.
Thats my opinion
Patsy :)
I want to say great job trusting yourself. You sound like you're really on top of it. Try and find a specialist for a consult on the disorder. Worst case scenario, you've wasted some $150 or so. Best case scenario is more info and assisstance.
I don't have any issues like this but you may want to look into the Juice Plus vitamins for kids. If he will take them at least he will be getting the nurtrients he needs (fruits & veggies) until you can find him help.
Hi Nancy, I have a 6 year old boy who is the same way,he is also healthy,and in the 75% for his age.all you can do is keep trying to find things he will like,and try to get him to take a bite of new foods.this has been strange for me to but he does like mac an cheese,pizza, peanut butter,and theese are not bad foods.good luck,and I am sure he will be fine
Gayle