Why does my child have trouble with eating?
There are a range of difficulties that children have with eating, and a range of reasons, but they can come under the following categories
Medical
For some children medical conditions or procedures may have delayed eating or linked eating with a negative experience. Such as food allergies, nausea, reflux, or being born premature and missing early experiences.
Oral motor
Delays in developing oral motor skills (e.g., chewing, closing lips on a cup) can impact on continued eating or progression to different foods. This may occur for children who have other disabilities. Some children may also have sensitivities to specific textures or temperatures of food.
Behavioural
Connected with medical or oral motor reasons, eating may not be an enjoyable experience for your child. This is where children may start to display behaviours like refusal, spitting foods out, or leaving the table. As parents we may respond to these behaviours in different ways, or we might be unsure about what aspect of eating is causing the difficulty.
Overall, a child might continue these behaviours with certain foods/in mealtimes. These behaviours (refusing to eat) may mean that you child does not get to learn that eating is okay, and they may miss developing new skills (like chewing, utensils).
My child has a disability, or autism - how does this affect eating?
While eating seems to ‘come naturally’ to most of us, it is actually a complex process to learn. If your child has delays in learning or skill development, this may affect eating. For example, it may be more difficult to learn independent skills such as self-feeding finger foods, or drinking from a cup.
In terms of autism, many autistic children will have difficulties with eating. Again, the reasons for this are varied, but some research provides some further insight.
Children with autism may have higher sensitivities to sensory aspects, and this can apply to foods - the smells, touch, and texture
Autistic children may attend more to routines/sameness - and foods may present a challenge as they are highly varied - particularly when they are home-cooked!
Mealtimes are not just about eating - they are highly social experiences and children with delays in social interactions may be more challenged within a mealtime setting in general
A team approach
Because of these different reasons for feeding challenges, a team approach is often required for evaluation and ongoing intervention. Usually including a doctor/paediatrician, a dietitian, speech language therapist, and a psychologist