when your child won't eat
by Hilary Pereira
For nearly six months, Natasha, now aged three years, would eat only peas and cucumber. 'I would have felt happier if she would eat only cheese or yoghurt – something more nutritious – but she just wasn't interested,' says her mother Helen Browning.
© Getty
There are few things more likely to cause a sharp rise in parental anxiety than your child refusing to eat. 'The most basic motherly impulse is to nurture, so mothers often worry and feel inadequate when their children reject the food they provide,' explains consultant child psychologist Dr Olwen Wilson.
when does it begin?
'Natasha went off milk altogether when she was 10 weeks old. I was frantic, what else can babies have? I weaned her at 12 weeks, and she took to baby rice and purees beautifully. First full meals were also a success, but then at around a year old, she went off just about everything except peas and cucumber,' says Helen.
This pattern is quite common: Children can start refusing food at any age but it tends to start between the ages of one and two years. Typically, a child will take well to solid food, even eating a wide variety of foods but the novelty of this can wear off, often around the time she becomes more active. Sitting still at mealtimes is simply not as much fun as exploring. Add to this a general lack of interest in eating, common in many children, often because toddlers learn that this is not their last chance to eat – there will be food around later – and you are likely to have a child refusing her food.
is it serious?
Food refusal can have different implications depending on the extent: many children, for instance, point-blank refuse to eat anything green, having tried and disliked strong-tasting vegetables such as broccoli or cabbage. This can be got round, as similar nutrients and roughage can be obtained through eating fruit. Other children, however, refuse to eat virtually anything offered to them, existing merely on chocolate and crisps – or other unhealthy combinations. If such a fad becomes long term, lasting several months, you may want to talk to your health visitor or GP about your child's development. 'The only situation which gives rise to real concern is when a health visitor says a child's weight is too low for her height, which is rarely the case,' says Dr Wilson.
(April 2002, resources updated March 2005)
