What to do if your young child won’t eat

Hi Everyone! I’ve been re-reading the book Intuitive Eating, which has been republished from the original. I noticed there’s quite a bit in the book on how to teach your child to be an intuitive eater so he doesn’t have to go through the rigmarole that so many of us have been through. This is so important if eating disorders, obesity, chronic dieting, or any blood sugar problems run in your family. The reason is because there’s something happening in the our bodies that makes ED more likely in such families. I’m sure of this, and I don’t need scientific proof since I lived with this experience for three decades. I believe there is not one single genetic cause, but many that can cause our bodies to be ED-prone. It could be missing digestive enzymes, or certain chemicals in the blood, or something originating in the pancreas, which under normal circumstances regulates blood sugar just fine. The whole body is linked together.

I don’t think ED is caused by a “chemical imbalance in the brain.” Mostly, it’s not a psych disorder, although as soon as ED hits you, your mood and behavior will be drastically affected.  In fact, the theory of depression being a “chemical imbalance in the brain” was discredited years ago, probably back in the 1980’s, while sadly, most people still believe this, including most doctors.  I have no reason to believe ED is a “brain disease,” although for many years I assumed that’s what it was. I was wrong, and I’m positive of what I now am saying.

People in the Patients’ Liberation Movement have objected when I’ve stated that ED is genetic. This goes against the thinking in our Movement that much of what we know as “mental illness” is not genetic. Family circumstances, trauma, school bullying, alcohol and withdrawal of alcohol, drugs, etc…any of these can cause a person to act a bit odd and raise eyebrows. Modern science repeatedly tells us they are “on the verge” of discovering a gene for schiz, or find the “brain disease” that causes many of what we think of as “mental illnesses.” On the verge. But no, they can’t find it, and they won’t. This is to keep the public fooled into buying the drugs to treat the nonexistent brain diseases.  Most of us do not have traumatic brain injuries (TBI) except what was caused by psych drugs or ECT, that is, after the fact. When the brains of those who had ECT get opened up in autopsy, you bet they find damage, and it’s hardly true that a person is “out of it” for only a few hours after each “treatment.” Many are damaged so badly that they must go on disability or even get hidden away in state hospitals after ECT. I suppose the shrinks are rather embarrassed. Hide the evidence.

So for me to state that ED is genetic goes against the grain of many in the Movement, until I explain that ED is a nutritional disorder, not a psychiatric disorder. When I explain what eating disorders really are, they understand. The DSM is completely wrong about people with ED, and somehow, has tailored it for psychiatry. We know psychiatry has done this with neuro problems, too. I have met many neuros who are furious about this, and like me, want psychiatry to lay off.

So if you already know ED runs in your family, what should you do about raising ED-free kids? We know that it’s possible they might have that genetic predisposition. The object is to prevent it from being set into motion.

Read the book Intuitive Eating. The tips in this book are about the best I’ve seen. If your child is fussy, realize that many kids are fussy anyway. Don’t push the panic button. Let them be kids.

I have many creative ideas for how to help children who are fussy eaters. Ask. It may take a lot of detective work on the part of a caring parent to figure this one out. What’s happening at school lunch? Is your child being bullied? Has her lunch or lunch money been stolen? Do other children make your child uncomfortable at lunchtime? Does she need to sit with a different group of kids? Does a lunchroom monitor give your child a hard time?

At home, you might try changing the environment. I laugh now, looking back, because my mom had me sit between my two brothers at the table. The thinking was that if I sat there, it would prevent my brothers from fighting with each other. We had a round table, so four could sit okay, but I ended up sitting at the table leg. I had to put each of my legs on either side of that table leg. When I was tired of the dinnertime conversation, I braided the tablecloth fringe as a way of tuning it all out. Who wants to hear more about a yucky war in Vietnam, or President Johnson or Nixon or Vice Pres Agnew, or and the Six Day War in the Middle East that actually went on forever? Those topics ended up in elaborate tablecloth fringe braids. Are you wondering why I am now so good at braiding my own hair? Now you know! However, our dinners were mostly okay. I look back and laugh. I had a good childhood.

Allow your child to be as creative as he needs to be. I think my mom was very good about this. She allowed me to make crazy combinations if I wanted, even unconventional things such as spreading peanut butter on bologna, rolling it up and eating it. Sometimes my dad put Creme de Menthe on our ice cream and no, I didn’t end up an alcoholic from that.

I don’t see why children should have so many rules, or absolutes regarding food. For instance, why can’t a child have fish for breakfast if he wants? They do this in many Eastern cultures and it doesn’t cause a health problem. Why not have rice instead of oatmeal for breakfast? Why can’t an older child try out what the baby is eating? There’s nothing wrong with eating applesauce and ground up carrots and your kid won’t die from it. Banana sandwiches, marshmallow sculptures, towers made of apple slices, faces on cookies. All good fun. Make a pumpkin into a face even if it isn’t Halloween. Put a face on the quiche. Try unconventional dishes. Is it against the law to use a fork instead of a spoon, a bowl instead of a plate? Mostly, our ideas around eating tend to be too rigid. If your kid wants to season his hamburger with cinnamon, let him!

Have you ever read Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss? If you are from my generation, you did! Have you ever made green eggs? Many fear that if an egg is green, it must have gone rotten. Please don’t eat rotten eggs! If you want some good kid or adult fun making green eggs, here’s how to do it. Sprinkle on seaweed or spirulina. Spirulina is so green I swear if I ever get it on my clothes it won’t come off! This morning, I made green eggs just to spite those people in ED “care.” Here is a hard-boiled egg cut up, a few slices of potato cooked, sprinkled with this morning’s dose of spirulina:

It’s hard to see the green in the picture, but my egg was as green as my last name this morning. For fun, try green eggs today!

PS: Here’s a link to the book Inturitive Eating: http://www.amazon.com/Intuitive-Eating-Evelyn-Tribole-ebook/dp/B006ZL3P4G/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1445689592&sr=1-1&keywords=intuitive+eating