Fussy eating can range from not liking vegetables to refusing to even sit at the kitchen table – but how do you manage it? 

Most children have a fussy eating phase, particularly for foods like vegetables, preferring chocolate and sweets over peas and carrots. 

Stephanie Fleming said if she could convince her daughter to eat a chocolate bar she would be “the happiest person in the world”. 

“My little girl is four and she has an eating disorder that's called ARFID,” she told Lunchtime Live. 

“She is basically not clinically really sick or isn't in a hospital 24-7 because she's kept going by supplements. 

“We have to try and get up to 300 calories of food into her after that, which sounds really, really easy but it's the most stressful, horrific experience ever.” 

Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder is a disorder by which people limit the volume and variety of food they eat. 

Ms Fleming explained her daughter hates lumps and different textures of food. 

Eating disorders

She said her daughter is also autistic – which leads to a lot of people blaming her autism for her eating problems. 

“We're kind of in a loop that you can't get out of,” she said. 

“Every instinct you have, you have to forget - if you can get Indy to eat in the bathroom, you're doing well. 

“It's taken us probably a year, a year and a bit to get her to sit at the table with us and not to have a meltdown or be completely overwhelmed. 

“There's like 32 different steps of eating... but 90% of the time she won't, she won't engage with food, it's like her head and her stomach just doesn't click.” 

'Fussy' phases

Paediatric Occupational Therapist and Feeding Therapist Teresa Foley said lots of children go through “fussy” phases. 

“They start to reject food and go through a phase of maybe eating things like chicken nuggets or waffles or wedges or food that's quite safe and preferred to them. 

“Most children will, after a year or two, move on from that stage and move past that. 

“However, for some children, these difficulties can persist and actually become more severe and serious as they get older – that's when we move past picky eating to problem eating.” 

'Positive environment'

Ms Foley said “the most positive eating environment” a parent can create is one with no pressure. 

“An environment where the child feels relaxed, secure, there's no pressure on them to eat,” she said. 

“And if the child doesn't eat, that's fine - they can always try again next time, or they might even do something like take part in preparing the meal or setting the table.” 

The therapist said it can help to not worry about the nutritional value of food and remember “all food is good food”. 

She also agreed that Ms Fleming was doing an “incredible job” supporting her daughter. 

Listen back here:

People can contact Bodywhys at 01 2107906 for more information.

Find more advice from Teresa Foley here.