Is it more than just ‘Fussy Eating?’
‘Fussy Eating’ or ‘Picky Eating’ is a term commonly used when describing a child who is restrictive or selective around their food choices. For us, ‘Fussy Eating’ is a red flag for an underlying feeding challenge. A child typical develops ‘Fussy Eating’ behaviors following a disruption in a key body structure or function. Our job is to identify WHAT it is that is causing food to be difficult.
That is our job, we do not expect you as parents to try to find out why. However, there are some key questions we ask that indicate if a child may be experiencing more than just ‘fussy eating’:
- Does your child have a restricted and repetitive diet, with refusal to try any new foods?
- Does your child have difficulty letting you know when they are hungry and/or when they are full?
- Are your child’s preferred foods mostly made up of the same texture, colour and/or taste? (e.g. white and crunchy)
- Does your child avoid being messy and/or show sensory challenges towards food?
- Does your child become anxious around trying new foods?
- Does your child require devices (iPad/TV) in order to eat and/or do they have difficulty remaining seated for the duration of a meal?
- Do you feel that your child eats more or less than expected for their age?
- Does your child have less than 20 ‘safe/preferred’ foods?
- Do your mealtimes typically last less than 5 minutes or more than 30 minutes?
- Has the feeding challenge occurred for longer than 3 months?
If you answered yes to 2 or more of the above questions, that occurs on a consistent basis, this may indicate an underlying feeding challenge.
90-95% of all children go through a period of ‘Fussy Eating’ around 2 years of age, however, typically doesn’t last longer than 3 months. Some feeding challenges pass on their own, others require feeding therapy to support their acceptance of new foods.
As always, do not hesitate to reach out.
Rebecca