Eating Disorders by Rachel Bryant-Waugh

Author:Rachel Bryant-Waugh [RACHEL BRYANT-WAUGH AND BRYAN LASK]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2011-07-28T16:00:00+00:00

Selective eating

While you are very likely to be anxious about your child’s narrow range of foods, it is unlikely that any real harm is being done (see Chapter 3). This can often be hard to believe, because everyone now knows about the importance of a properly balanced diet. It may seem that as your child is only accepting a few foods, she can’t possibly be getting what she needs. However, the diets of most selective eaters, although restricted to only a few types of food and drink, will in fact contain sufficient amounts of protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins and minerals to sustain healthy growth. In consequence there really is little that you need to do at all, particularly if your child is not upset or worried about her eating.

The one exception is selective eaters whose diet has a very high sugar content or whose preferred drink is a fizzy sweet one. Such children tend to experience considerable dental problems and you should ensure that you arrange regular visits to the dentist. An added complication here is that selective eaters are often very reluctant to see a dentist. This is presumably related to the fact that these children tend to be particularly sensitive to things being put in their mouths. They are very resistant to new tastes and textures of food, and many find the experience of visiting the dentist extremely aversive. It is worth persisting with trying to reduce this anxiety to avoid the long-term consequences of neglected tooth decay. It is very likely that your child will grow out of her selective eating patterns, but she has to stay with the same set of teeth for the rest of her life. The vast majority of selective eaters do grow out of their restricted acceptance of different foods. In many cases, we have not found treatment to be particularly helpful in the short term. Although intensive treatment may have some slight effect, it is often limited, and it can sometimes have the opposite effect of emphasizing the child’s difference from others. It can also make food and mealtimes a battleground. We have found it far more useful to try to accept the narrow diet, in the expectation that it will change in time, after ensuring that no harm is being done in terms of physical growth and development.

Lola was eight years old and due to change schools later in the year. She first came to the clinic after the Easter holidays, when she had one term left at her first school. Lola felt comfortable at school. She had been there since she was four, she knew all the teachers and she had always been able to take her packed lunch in with her. Everybody at school knew that Lola did not eat the cooked school dinners and no one made a fuss about it. While the other children had whatever the lunch was for that day, Lola always had her same lunch of plain chicken sandwiches, a packet of readysalted crisps and two jam-sandwich biscuits.

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