​National Down’s Syndrome day gives us an opportunity to bring awareness to the nutritional complications that might be present in children with developmental delays. How do the two relate? Children diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome may have texture issues and certain sensitivities to food. We see preoccupation with somatic symptoms, struggles with heightened anxiety in restaurants, birthday parties, or anywhere that is unfamiliar. Additionally, adding in new foods may be hard if a child is overly concentrated on a specific food.
In most cases picky eating is normal and a phase almost every child will go through. But when picky eating turns into only eating a certain macaroni and cheese, or chicken nuggets ONLY from McDonalds. Is it something else?
So, what does it mean when it is more than picky eating; have you heard of ARFID (Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder)? In the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5) ‘ARFID is characterized by failure to meet appropriate nutritional and/ or energy needs, which leads to one or more of the following(1)’:
-Avoidance or restriction of food intake based on the food’s sensory characteristics (e.g., texture, smell, taste);
- Lack of interest in eating or food;
-Fear/concerns of adverse consequences of eating, such as choking or vomiting, gaining weight, or developing an illness.
ARFID presents around the ages of 3-11 but it can occur younger and even in older children. Unlike other eating disorders, ARFID lacks distorted body image or the desire to lose weight. ARFID can look like picky eating with sensory based characteristics, low appetite, or phobias and aversions to specific food.
HOW DO WE HELP?
Food chaining can be used with picky eaters to introduce new foods by utilizing foods that are already accepted and liked. By making slow subtle variations to the liked food your child can make the bridge to new foods. Dietitian’s are important in this process to assure that the foods that we are chaining to are nutritious and fill a gap in the child’s diet.
Aside from picky eating and ARFID, children with Down’s Syndrome may have challenges with weight trends or utilize a feeding tube to provide their nutritional intake. Assuring these nutritional challenges are optimized to meet each child’s needs but also increase their quality of life is one of our passions; let us aid you in your child’s complex nutritional needs - https://www.panhandlenutritiontherapy.com.