When we think of food, our minds often jump to comfort, celebration, and connection—it’s not just about nutrition; it’s a vital social skill. As a pediatric food therapist, I was truly moved to action when I learned that between 70% and 89% of children with disabilities experience some form of feeding difficulty.

With over 10 years of experience providing speech and feeding therapy services to both children and adults, I’ve seen firsthand the complex nature of feeding disorders. Through continuous training and real-world experience, I’ve identified five primary factors that often contribute to these challenges:

The Five Components of Feeding Disorders in Children:

  1. Psychological Component: This extends far beyond simply picky eating. It involves a child associating a specific texture, color, or taste with a negative emotion. The aversion’s cause is often unknown—it could be a memory of an illness linked to a food, or a traumatic experience like gagging or choking, which leads the child to deem that food, and similar foods, unsafe. Parents frequently report a sudden decline in their child’s eating following a sickness.
  2. Sensory Component: Individuals can be either hyposensitive or hypersensitive to texture, taste, smell, or touch.
    • Hyposensitive children often take large bites, overstuff their mouths, chew inadequately, prefer stronger flavors, seek sticky foods (which hold together while chewing), and exhibit a hard swallow.
    • Hypersensitive children typically dislike strong flavors, preferring savory or bland foods, take small, controlled bites, gag more easily, prefer pureed textures, and are more likely to spit out food than swallow it.
  1. Oral-Motor Component: This involves the movement, sensation, or strength of the mouth, or anatomical structures that interfere with the functional preparation, movement, and swallowing of a food bolus (a chewed mass of food). Progress in this area is crucial for building a child’s confidence with food.
  2. Food Allergy Component: Given how common they are, food allergies must be a central consideration in ongoing therapy. Recognizing symptoms or conducting a skin or blood test (which I nearly always recommend) can significantly impact progress.
  3. Underlying Health Condition: This category is broad, ranging from reflux and mood disorders to conditions like eosinophilic esophagitis (EOE) and neuromuscular disorders. A skilled therapist will constantly monitor and inquire about bowel movements, health changes, breathing during and after meals, and other signs of distress. In doing this, I have observed that children with EOE often prefer a high-sodium diet, and others with extreme touch aversions and diets high in gluten and sugar, more commonly exhibit signs of a whole-body yeast infection.

5 Simple Actions to Improve Your Child’s Feeding Habits Now

As a parent navigating these complexities, here are five straightforward, actionable steps you can implement immediately:

  1. Prioritize Safety and Control: Offer your child an immediate and appropriate way to discard any food they dislike. They must feel control over their own body. Always allow them to spit out a food, even after tasting it. Your main goal is to build a feeling of safety and confidence around food.
  2. Offer, Encourage, and Accept: Serve a small portion (1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon, no more) of the family’s prepared meal on a separate plate. Encourage, praise, and gently push your child, but never force them to eat. As you eat, model a discussion about the food: How does it taste? What is the texture like? Is it your favorite? If you don’t like it but eat it because it was prepared, say that, too. Expressing and accepting preferences is essential.
  3. Minimize Mealtime Distractions: Strive to reduce interruptions. If you usually eat in front of the TV, try muting it or switching to music. Eat at the dining room table whenever possible, ensuring your child has proper seating and foot support.
  4. Establish a Mealtime Routine: Just like a bathtime routine, create a consistent sequence for meals (e.g., wash hands, sit and eat together, clear your plate). A routine provides a clear start and finish to what can be a stressful activity, assuring the child that mealtime won’t be endless.
  5. Reduce Sugar Intake: Sugar is pervasive in modern diets, but limiting your child’s consumption will benefit their overall health and behavior. Over time, taste buds adapt, reducing the craving for sugar and increasing their appetite for nutritious foods.

 

Your main objective is to empower your child with confidence in food and provide healthy choices. They need to understand that they have control over what and how they eat. If you have concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out today to schedule a 1:1 consultation or a comprehensive feeding evaluation. Submit your inquiry here.