8 year old with eating problems

[iloveglee]

I would like help or comments from those out there with a 'difficult to feed child' My daughter is 9 and has always been what I would call a 'faddy eater', there are some things she likes (very few) and has always been reluctant to even try anything new. Now she has a very limited diet and is very thin but has bags of energy most of the time. She is generally healthy but having said that is the one that will go down with a cold or ear infection rather than her sister who will eat anything you put in front of her. There are a couple of things she really likes but they are not what I would call very valuable nutritionally. Needless to say she will eat any amount of chocolate or sweets you put in front of her if we let her. When she is given a meal, even some things she is supposed to like she pushes it around her plate as if she has a real fear of it, and takes forever to eat it. I cannot decide whether this is a physical problem she often says she is not hungry (at meal times), or whether it is some kind of power battle, she is a very stubborn and determined character. I thought this would improve as she got older, but it seems to be getting worse. I wondered whether it was worth consulting the doctor although she doesn't appear to be physically ill. We have tried not to make an issue of this but wonder how she can keep going on so little 'proper' food.

[Jenarry]

My son has been a faddy eater since he was a toddler too, at it's worst when he was around 3yrs old eating just one of four food items.
he is much better these days aged 6 although i still wish he had a bit more variety.
I can understand how you feel .my son just never has had an appetite ,and has not been interested in food (and very reluctant to have anything new and can even refuse things he previously liked if he hadn't had it for a while) and so i felt like i had to monitor everything he ate to ensure he was actually having enough to survive on because he didn't have the usual appetite to do it for him.
I've learnt not to make an issue of it . Time in the kitchen can be a really good thing ,looking through a recipe book together first to both choose what to make and also letting them have some input at the supermarket can help too.
i used to try and buy things with a food theme.ie games,books,films just to try and raise an interest in the subject which i think has helped too.

[iloveglee]

Thanks for the tips about input at the supermarket etc. She has been just a little bit better this last week. She has been doing some extra sporting activities for the last few months which has involved a lot of time and commitment and i think she has become exhausted. She is not the kind of child that eats like a horse when she is exercising, quite the everse unfortunately. Plus, i think there was some anxiety about it which does tend to depress the appetite sometimes. We are trying to keep a low profile about it, she has got some vitamins now and after reading all the comments and advice, i feel a little bit more confident that she'll survive all this in the end!!

[aims1202]

From what you've said it sounds like what she eats is not that bad at all. I would probably limit the treats more, i think sweet cereal and squash are treats as well as chocolate and crisps etc. Mine only get treats after eating the healthy meals i cook and only occasionally, they eat something like weetabix or ready brek for breakfast and then as a treat sometimes they get a mini box of coco pops after. They don't have to eat everything or even eat things they don't like but i do always put veg in meals and fruit in pudding. My kids are 3 and 9 and they often cook meals with me, 9yr old does it on his own sometimes, he can cook things like veg omelette, stir fry, home made pizza, and salads, we also make fruit smoothies or milkshakes and freeze them to make lollies. cheesecake with lots of fresh fruit on top is popular with mine, but usually pudding is plain yoghurt with fruit and honey. maybe get a cookbook and ask her to choose some healthy recipes she would like and cook them together.

[cazzz1975]

you definitely have to restrict the sweets, it will be difficult to start with and she will initially eat less but without her treats she will develop a taste for real food.

[NOX]

I would very much disagree with that Cazz, let her stuff herself with sweets and chocolate and gain a love of what she eats, that's what we did with our faddy one, he lived on Galaxy, crisps and tuck biscuits for a short time. As he chilled out about food and learned to like eating, we slid things in and altered his taste a little- crisp sandwiches- then cheese and crisp sandwiches, then just cheese sandwiches then cheese and salad sandwiches, chocolate cake he'd made with his Galaxy, then trifle with galaxy grated on top of the cream, then just trifle, then jelly and ice cream, then fruit and jelly etc- he now eats anything and everything without any fuss at all. Just don't make a fuss and it'll all sort itself out, some kids are like this, the important thing is not to turn it into a war or view it as a terrible problem.