Having a child who is a picky eater is a common occurrence for parents. About 20% of children between the ages of 2 and 6 have, what is considered, a narrow diet. While picky eating can be common, it can still cause mealtimes to become a battleground. A new study from Duke University published in the journal, Pediatrics, found that children who had a diet that was severely restricted enough to make mealtime difficult at home were twice as likely to have depressive symptoms and seven times more likely to have social anxiety than their non-picky counterparts. While these cases were rare in comparison to the 20% of picky eaters (3%).
Children who are picky eaters often have sensory difficulties that cause eating certain foods to be undesirable. The taste, feel, smell and sight of different foods are enough to cause the picky eater to refuse the item. Refusing to eat foods that do not appeal to our senses may also be an over exaggeration of instincts such as avoiding poisonous plants, spoiled food or non-edible items. Even if you can get your picky eater to try a bite, it may take many trials before your child will accept that food. Adults generally take 1 to 2 trials of a food to decide if they like it. Extremely picky eaters can take 50 trials of more to make that decision. Parents of picky eaters may find it useful to seek help for this issue as children may not outgrow this on their own or it may become too stressful for parents to address alone.
Occupational therapists (OT) are wonderful resources to help picky eaters. OTs will address sensory sensitivities in children to help them be more receptive to trying new foods. They will also guide parents with strategies to help their child during mealtimes and to relieve the stress involved around trying to encourage picky eaters to eat a healthy diet.
If your child is showing symptoms of depression or anxiety, it may be beneficial to schedule a visit with a pediatric psychologist to determine if this is typical or if it warrants intervention.
December 14, 2015