Punch
One challenge many parents have is coping with children that are picky about the foods they eat. For the parent, who does the cooking, it is frustrating to prepare one type of meal for the family and then prepare another meal for a child or two, who won’t eat that particular meal, because it makes them want to vomit. For some children, that food type: may be fish, beans, salad, onion, scrambled egg, etc. It is not that the children in question don’t like to eat that particular food item. It is just that once it goes into their mouth, they feel nauseous. It may be the smell, taste, look or feel of the food item.
It should be noted that this is not necessarily an eating disorder like the Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, oftentimes described as “extreme picky eating.” The fear in children with ARFID usually stems from knowing they must eat, even when they have no interest in eating, that they will choke or become sick, that they are faced with new food or that the temperature might not be what they like. Parents of children with eating disorders should seek medical help.
However, for parents who don’t understand this picky eating challenge in their children, they may assume that the children are acting like spoiled brats who have too much food available and, therefore, can afford to be choosy. Many of such parents or guardians try to force such meals down the throats of the children. They use the whip, threats and force. They believe that with force, they can wipe out such a trait from the children.
But it is the wrong approach. A child who is repulsed by the taste of scrambled eggs or the smell of fresh fish or seafood, for example, can never stop feeling so because of beatings or threats. Such children will rather develop fear of their parents or food.
As a child, I had such an eating challenge. But I was lucky to have parents who understood my condition and managed it well. Interestingly they were not the well-educated type. I was later to learn that my father had such a challenge too as a child.
