Do you feel like your child is a picky eater?
As adults, many of us love to eat. There are many children who love to eat and explore different foods. However, there are many children out there whom parents may consider to be “picky eaters.” There definitely are children who prefer to eat certain foods over others and may appear to be “picky”. However, there are other children who will only eat certain foods, and these children may be considered “problem feeders.” According to Dr. Kay Toomey, who developed the Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) Approach to feeding, one aspect of a “problem feeder” is a child who has 20 or less foods in their repertoire. Other indicators of having a child with an eating deficit may include poor weight gain, choking/gagging/coughing during meals, difficulty tolerating different food textures, and a child who often “battles” their parents during meal time.
There may be several reasons as to why your child may have difficulty with a variety of food items. Eating is the one activity that children participate in that requires each of their organ systems and each of their sensory systems to work together. If there is a break down in one of these areas eating can become challenging. In addition to possible medical reasons impacting feeding (constipation and reflux are just two examples), examples of other “break downs” that may occur may include some of the following: sensory deficits (including tactile, visual), high/low muscle tone, distractibility, and deficits in oral motor skills.
Go to treatment ideas on eating/feeding concerns