When does selective food become dangerous for your child?

Many parents have difficulties feeding their children, some children may refuse to eat certain types of food, when is your child’s selectivity a problem that needs to be solved?

When does selective food become dangerous for your child?

It is natural for parents to care about the nutrition of their children and to ensure that this process is done well and in sufficient quantities to obtain all the necessary and important nutrients for their growth and development. We find many parents complaining about their child’s abstaining from eating a specific type of food and hating it, such as refraining from eating vegetables or meat. As we find him categorically rejecting it, and as soon as it is present on the dining table, until the quarrel and attempts to force it to eat this type begin! Although parents have tried many ways and means to endear them to him, they do not receive any positive result, so they remain in constant fear that their child will not get enough nutrients, and that his growth is less than his peers, and they are looking for permanent solutions to this.

In the beginning, you must be confident that many children may go through this type of problem towards their selectiveness to eat specific foods, and here it may be a natural stage that your child passes through, and it will soon end, and it will not be difficult to obtain his consent to eat what he previously rejected. But in some cases, your child’s selectivity in food may go out into a circle of disorder, in which it is very difficult for him to accept food, and for a long time, which may affect his growth, weight, and health, and this situation really requires attention to his treatment and the intervention of specialists! It is very important to distinguish your child’s selectivity in food or his or her having any of the psychological or organic diseases that may be similar to or causing the symptoms of the selective disorder before diagnosing it, and starting the search for treatment. In what follows, let us introduce you to the meaning of an Eating Disorder, and what is the difference between it and a normal Eating Disorder!

What is a selective eating disorder?

It is a disorder that may affect children from the early stages of childhood, in which the child eats certain types of food and very few types of food and refuses others completely. Every new food is always met with rejection and fear of experimentation. One of the signs of infection is the acceptance of eating a small number of food alternatives from the same groups, and not exceeding 15-20 types. Other types of the same group were rejected.

The eating dates in which new types of food are presented to the child are always interspersed with anger, rejection, crying and continuous attempts to vomit, or feeling sick, just from seeing or smelling food, or feeling afraid of vomiting or suffocating according to the appearance of the food.

The groups most at risk of developing a selective eating disorder are children between one and ten years of age.

Typically, children with this disorder are:

Those of the same age are underweight, as a result of not getting the daily calories they need.

They do not get enough vitamins, minerals, and proteins, which may make them more vulnerable to deficiency than others.

Some of them may be accompanied by a decline in cognitive development.

Weak immunity makes them more susceptible to disease than others.

A child is usually diagnosed with a selective eating disorder after confirming the medical history. Beyond the child’s refusal to a specific type of food, there may be a medical reason, as in the case of autism, or celiac disease.

What is the difference between natural selectivity and selective eating disorder in children?

 Let us introduce you to that below:

The selective child in the natural position:

Appears between 18 months and 3 years old

Accepts at least 30 different types of food

The ability to control and choose

Preferring to eat a specific type of food for a long period of time

It is not accompanied by any medical problems

It adopts sensory experience as a model

This stage ends before the age of six

They eat when they feel hungry

A normal situation that accompanies the stages of development in childhood.

A child with an Eating Disorder:

It appears in children from newborn to four years old

Accepts no more than 20 different types of food

 It is accompanied by feelings of fear and anxiety

Usually, all options from the whole group of food groups, such as the vegetable group or the meat group, are refused to eat

It is usually associated with medical and health problems, such as problems with the mouth and teeth, swallowing and digestion disorders, problems with the gastrointestinal system..etc.

The refusal comes from food, because of its shape, smell, or taste

The disorder can persist and accompany them even into adulthood

They avoid eating in social environments, as it causes them psychological pressure

They refuse to eat any unfamiliar food even when feeling hungry

An abnormal situation, which falls under the list of eating disorders.

From here, you can identify the problem that your child suffers from, it may be just giving your child some time to get used to the new types of food provided is all that is needed, and in some cases, you may actually need to go to take the necessary advice.

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