Increasingly picky eating

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My girlfriend's son, Billy, is a 10 year old aspie. Over the last year, he has become an increasingly picky eater. I know that picky eating is an aspie trait, but it is now getting to the point of being ridiculous.

A few months ago, he informed us he will no longer be eating chicken, turkey, or pork. In fact, the only protein that he will now eat is now fast food hamburgers. Other than that, french fries, peirogies, buttered pasta, and junk food. That's it.

He and his mom currently live with his grandparents during the week, and spend weekends here with me. Grandma will always give into him, so it is reinforcing his behavior. Next June, Billy and his mom will be moving in with me, so the issue of grandparents sneaking him fast food burgers and junk food will be gone. I know it is going to be a difficult transition for him, but one that he is going to need to make.

I'd like to know what your aspies will eat, especially with protein, fruits, and vegetables. I can get him to eat a few bites of steak, but it is a battle. I am seriously starting to worry about his health.

I think its a phase. A little on the late side, but otherwise something most kids seem to go through. My NT daughter is 9 and has been quite busy the last few years narrowing her food choices, to the point where its my AS son, now 12, who is currently the better eater.

My son will eat roast chicken but no other chicken. I don't know why. Last year he rediscovered salmon, so I'm no longer worried about the chicken. Sometimes he'll eat steak, but he's moody about it. Pork occasionally, and he does like hamburgers, but not all that frequent, either. He does drink a lot of milk, so that is probably his major source of protein.

I remember our pediatrician telling us to think at food balance with kids on a weekly, not daily, basis. Last night my son ate a large salmon steak for dinner, and the night before he ate 3 servings of pork nuggets. He also likes BBQ ribs. A few nights before that a reasonable serving of roast chicken. Put together, its a week's worth of protein servings.

He loves pasta and bread, so grains are never an issue. In the past year he's developed an interest in greens like chard, and on those nights can down 3 days worth of veggies. Other days I rely on my 5:00 snack veggies trick, which gets both kids eating their servings. My AS son likes raw carrots, red bell pepper, and LOVES tomatoes. Oh, and he discovered Cesear Salad last year, as well.

Both my kids have more intellectual interest in healthy foods than actual taste buds for it, and I encourage that. We talk about the science of it all, and the nutrition needs. At least it keeps them WANTING to eat better, even if their impulses and taste buds keep challenging it.

We don't make them eat anything in particular. Put it on the table, encourage, but never force. Every so often they decide something smells or looks good and agree to a taste. It builds slowly but it DOES build.

I'd be patient. Educate him on the science of it, and allow time for his taste buds to develop.

"Increasingly picky eating" is also often the sign of increasing food addiction as a result of food intolerances. The usual suspects are wheat/gluten, ( pasta, pizza, buns, biscuits, etc ), dairy, ( icecream, cheese, etc ), corn, ( various snacks aswell as things sweetened with corn-syrup ), and soya, etc, aswell as the most commmon food addiction of all; sugar.

The "safest" diet is mainly protein; meat, fish, eggs, nuts, some pulses, perhaps rice, and lots of vegetables, salads etc.

Grains are one of the most overrated foods in the world today; in fact there is increasing evidence to show that they are not just bad for people who experience an autoimmune system response to gluten/wheat, and that is already a significant percentage; 1% of the population and rising, at last count, have celiac disease; 10% of the population have gliadin/gluten antibodies, and perhaps as many as 30% have some sort of autoimmune-system reaction to gluten, and the damage, which is cumulative, can progressively affect neurological/brain functioning, ( mood and cognition ), aswell as almost any other organ.

But gluten also, for example, triggers the production, in everyone, of zonulin, a chemical which acts on the gut lining, so that the intestinal-cell-junctions open up, allowing large molecules like food opioid peptides ( which are addictive ) to pass, aswell as disturbing the finely tuned absorption process, and putting pressure on the immune-system.

Avoid cereals and your health will almost certainly improve, so long as you get enough meat/fish/eggs etc and veg.

The longer your girlfriend's son continues to eat junk, or any food he is sensitive to, the longer it will take his body to recover from the various vitamin, mineral and essential fatty acid deficiencies aswell as systemic problems which follow. I wish someone had stopped me eating gluten, and sugar, when I was still a child.

Good luck.

PS. My 10 year old AS/PDD son breaks his fast with a protein and salad/veg lunch everyday, ( salmon/tuna, lamb, duck, pork, beef steak, scrambled eggs, etc with green veg or lots of salad ), and then eats a cheese, pickle, fruit, nut, and yoghurt, or rice cakes with toppings plus a yoghurt tea/supper. He is used to it, and likes it too . But sometimes we slide down the slippery sugary and starchy carbohydrate slope, and it takes us days or even weeks to climb out of it. He, like me, has a major weakness for sugar.

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The only protien my son gets is from milk and cheese, hot dogs and chicken nuggets (McDonalds and Tyson), he eats 2 fruits, no vegetables at all, and bread and pasta pretty much. Pizza and perogies. He won't eat candy, vegetables or real meat. It is such a pain.

I went to a nutritionist and they said that they are worried about Iron, Calcium and Vitamin D primarily. He gets protein from milk and cheese, which he gets the vitamin D and Calcium from and I get fortified anything he will eat with iron. I also give him ensure for minerals and liquid vitamins for other stuff. (he won't chew vitamins, or vitamin gum, or gummy bears, nor will he take a pill)

He is growing, and he's at a very healthy weight. I get his iron checked every year and it's good, so I don't worry about it. He does try stuff, and sometimes he will add something to his pallette but it rarely sticks. It's just one of those battles I'm not going to fight if he's getting what he needs, as frustrating as it is.

Good Luck!! !! I think we're all in the same boat.

Does he have any sensory issues with his AS? My 9-yo will eat a VERY limited number of foods. We are now working with an OT to introduce new foods. Carrots caused severe gagging, mashed potatoes not quite as much, he was able to hold it in his mouth for 5 seconds before he spit it out. It is going to be a long, hard road, but one that we must go down as his diet is now so severely limited. He is a healthy weight, and his iron is OK for right now, but he wants to be able to eat more foods and we want him to as well. Just a thought that it may be sensory and not just him not willing to eat something.

Laura

It's a sensory thing with most foods. But I have found he will eat more things if they ethier on a bun or made it ot a rap. Also breaking out the blender and making smothies with fruit and yogurt work out well. If your worried about gutten or that he might have some food isuses that are caused by medical isuses get him tested for this. Unless you have soild proof I would never ever start a resticed diet for a child it's upsetting to them and makes them seek out the foods that they are being deined. I would walk a mile over a busy road as a child just to buy junk food and play video games because they were baned in my house. Now as an adult I see this was a very silly risky thing to do but as a childit seemed will worth the risk to get my soda/candy/potatochip fix.

My kids are NT, but I'm an Aspie and I do with my kids what my mom did with me. This is supper, eat it or don't eat it but you're not getting anything else. If kids are hungry they will eat what's served. I never make something they HATE but they have to learn that sometimes you have to eat what somebody else likes too. I choose meals based on price and I have a meat and a vegetable or pasta with it every night and a dessert. Having 4 kids, I can't really cook to please each one every night, so I simply cook what is cheap and the majority would eat.

One thing I learned early on with my kids is that they won't starve to death and they won't be hurt by missing a meal if they refuse to eat what's served. Hunger is a lot more of a motivator than dislikes, trust me. I learned to eat what was on the table at dinner, even if it was just enough to fill me up some, and I also knew I'd get what I wanted another night too. It's not all about one person when you live with a family. Everybody has to have their needs met and pleasures sometimes.

PaganMom

I don't really have this problem, although I have eaten each part of the dish one after the other since I was a kid, although less so now. Much of the time when someone says they don't like an ingredient it is really a particular aspect of how it is prepared like texture.

If you served boiled vegetables to a Southern Mediterranean person they would probably spit it out because they don't use vegetables in that ways. This is pretty much the view of my Spanish uncle. Vegetables then to be served grilled or fried incorporated in flavoursome dishes, often with the meat not just as a side.

If he likes the texture of hamburgers, he might like if you made meat balls out of other ground meats, and served it with a nice sauce. Also mixing meats can work well. They do this quite a bit in Asian. Even prawns, chicken and pork for Singapore noodle for example. There the protein is very much used as a texture in relation to others. If you get a meat that is salty like back you can temper it with something blander like chicken breast.

People don't know how to cook meat. They often dry it out but without putting any colour on it. The popular cuts of meat are usually the blandest (although most uniform and generally tender), and people don't know how to compliment this. This tend to result in dishes of bland dried out meant and plain boiled vegetables.

Maybe if he as more of a stake in the process he with enjoy his food more, like helping prepare the meal.

AS kids will not eat if they are hungry! Unlike NT, many AS kids have sensory issues and will starve, (not really) instead of eat. Texture being the biggest, along with smell or even taste. With my son, 90% of the time it is due to the texture. I have been down this road with him. Everytime i give him a plate of food i know he won't eat, he will skip dinner. My son has become a lot more picky lately too.

You should see his Thanksgiving dinner plate! At almost 11, his plate has the same things on it that he did when he was 3! Except he has dropped the turkey and the cranberry, which leaves him with a roll and some yams. I am sure the only thing he looks forward to Thanksgiving each year is time off of school. lol

There are certain foods he will try, and he doesn't gag with it, but it's like he doesn't know how to swallow it, so he spits it out. Like salad, steak, chicken, etc. He won't eat green veggies...only orange/yellow. And it can't be raw (can't swallow, has to spit it out)...gotta be cooked. He won't eat any meat unless it is hamburgers, chicken nuggets or tuna/chicken/turkey salad. (the way i make it with yogurt, apples and raisins). He dislikes anything potato, including french fries. Never like rice either. (although i do trick him by making cream of rice hot cereal by grinding up the rice and cooking it....he loves those hot cereals!)

He eats most breakfast foods (including breakfast meats like bacon, ham, eggs, sausage). He also eats pastas, but only if they have white sauce like Alfredo or orange like mac n cheese. He also likes dairy like yogurt, milks, ice cream, etc. He is starting to refuse cheese now. Of course, pizza is his favorite and junk food like pizza rolls or breaded mazzarella sticks. Freezer crap.

I do have a rule though, if we have something he doesn't think he will like, it has to sit on his plate and he has to try at least one bite. If he doesn't like it or he gags or whatever, he can spit it out and doesn't have to finish it. If he thinks it is ok, then he should finish a few bites and i will add it to his plate next time...a small amt. Also, i always try to make at least one thing i know he will eat. (i have learned this after he was dx'd and knowing he will not eat if he is hungry).

I have asked his dr and they are not concerned at all. He is at a normal healthy weight and hasn't lost any weight since other visits. It is just hard on us cause we have no idea what to make them or how to complete their meal so it is balanced. We have to get more creative! I am in a slump right now as he has now refused any sort of sandwich, his string cheese and cereal bar from his lunch, which leaves 100% juice box a fruit and a fruit snack. I also give my son a multivitamin, extra C chewable and plenty of time outside.

GL