Refusal to eat can be a disorder called selective eating disorder that usually develops in childhood, when the child eats only the same foods, rejects all other options outside of their acceptance standard, has little appetite and lack of interest in new foods.It’s common for kids to always like to eat the same meals, reject new foods, and have difficulty eating in restaurants and others.
This disorder is often perceived by parents as a crisis of anger of a spoiled child or the freshness of eating, but this can be a disorder, requiring the child to be evaluated by a pediatrician and a psychologist to make their correct diagnosis, so that with treatment, the child will have a more varied and nutritionally balanced diet.
- Refusal to eat is common among children between the ages of 2 and 6.
- So parents are used to scenes like tantrums.
- Take a lot of time to eat.
- Try to negotiate the food to be eaten.
- Get up from the table during the meal.
- And pinching throughout the day.
- However.
- When the child constantly exhibits this type of behavior.
- He continues to eat the same foods.
- In addition to this phase.
- An evaluation is indicated with a doctor and a psychologist.
To identify this disorder, you should know the following symptoms
These symptoms can persist into adulthood when the disease is not properly diagnosed, causing constant tension and fights in the family during meals.
Diagnosis of this eating behavior disorder is based on the child’s medical history of symptoms, which should be taken to the pediatrician to assess the severity of food rejection.Keep a diet diary for 1 week, in addition to the feelings you feel.when eating food, it’s a good way to start understanding the problem.
In addition, your doctor will also look for other problems that may lead to food rejection, such as difficulty chewing and swallowing, food allergies, and gastrointestinal problems.The child does not always have low weight or developmental problems, but may have difficulties in school with academic performance, in addition to dry skin and weak hair and nails, due to lack of nutrients due to an un varied diet.
An exaggerated and persistent rejection of eating can be due to psychological problems, social phobias and changes in taste such as “super-taste”.Difficulty chewing, swallowing, or stomach pain or stomach pain can also influence this disorder.
Treatment for the child to eat everything is usually done with medical follow-up and psychological treatment, where strategies are developed to improve the food environment and encourage the child to try new foods through cognitive behavioral therapy.diet are:
Watch the video below and discover these and other tips that can help your child eat better:
In addition, if the child has problems in the development of chewing, speech, swallowing or gastrointestinal problems, follow-up with professionals such as speech therapist and occupational therapist will also be necessary as specific techniques will be implemented to improve the child’s experience with feeding..
Here are some tips for promoting your child’s food variety
Selective eating disorder can cause serious problems for the child, especially stunted growth and development due to a lack of adequate nutrients and calories, so the child can be a little smaller and lighter than it should be, even if it’s not always a feature that attracts parental attention.Lack of vitamins and minerals can also cause bleeding of gums, weak bones, dry eyes and skin problems.
In addition, excess of the same nutrient, obtained by excessive consumption of the same food, can also lead to health problems such as itching, fatigue, weakness and joint pain, so if these symptoms occur it may be necessary to perform a blood test to identify the deficiency or excess of certain nutrients, which may require medication.