Fruit and veg for 9 year old

How rude! No, I don't need to educate myself. I'm well aware of ARFID, but most fussy eaters are simply fussy eaters, a tiny, tiny minority will have ARFID, and I think the OP would have mentioned that extemely relevant fact if her DS did have ARFID.

My point stands, at 9 he's at the age he should be able to understand the importance of good nutrition, and should be accepting a healthy range of foods because he understands they are good for him, even if they are not his favourites.

ASD with ARFID here and that would be a long list for us and we'd be so happy. We have had nutritional bloods and all was fine so I would think that you don't actually need to worry but obviously always good to be working on increasing options and choice

Where do you think sausages, breaded chicken, fish nuggets, gammon, baked beans etc come from?

If I was being contrary, I would add peanut butter to the list too 😉

Avocado brownies

I have tried, you would not know that they contain avocado !

He is doing pretty well overall. He won’t eat blueberries, raspberries and strawberries as they have skin and seeds but he will drink a smoothie with those flavours.

He choose some salmon and rice sushi at the supermarket recently which he loved x

Texture wise avocados sound like they might suit him generally so you could also try making home made guacamole (although it's more textured than shop bought).

Oh, on the sausage front. DS (who is very fussy about meat) likes sausages but as well as eating normal sausage also likes black pudding, haggis and chorizo because we've introduced them all as kinds of sausage. Going on holiday abroad has forced his hand somewhat as well, he now drinks cloudy apple juice because that was the only option in Denmark and likes greek meatballs aftergoing to Greece (but not burgers or any other kind of shaped mince product 🤷🏼‍♀️).

Chuck a handful of baby spinach into a sweet fruit smoothie

He's just enjoyed a Lidl smoothie with avocado and spinach in it.

That reminds me, you can make a vegan/dairy free avocado chocolate mousse. I've not made it myself but it's all over the internet.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/240784/easy-coleslaw-dressing/

^
I use this recipe

One thing DD likes is homemade coleslaw

It's literally full of veg, sweetish mayonnaise sauce

I’d focus more on vegetables than fruit, tbh. If he likes fruit, that’s okay, but it’s not an essential part of a healthy diet. Broccoli, carrots and baby corn are great. Give him some of those everyday, plus a smoothie and you’re doing well. For the rest, I wouldn’t worry. It’s not a wide range of food, but there’s a mix of protein, carbs, dairy, veg and so on. It could be a lot worse.

Will he eat strawberries and raspberries, blueberries?

My dc are also fussy, so I feel your pain.

Could you try homemade smoothie with non bitty fruit? Eg mango, banana, kiwi, blueberries etc. I add silken tofu which gives it a smoother texture, with a bit of whole milk to thin it down to thickness he likes.

From my world that is a pretty long list, and you should be able to get plenty of calories into him as long you're prepared to keep serving up things he eats. I wouldn't worry too much, I think you risk building him a self-image that he is a picky eater which will make it harder for him to branch out.

A friend of mine once brought her child over to eat with mine because mine was "such a good eater" and hers was "fussy". I watched her child eat peppers, cucumber, all sorts of things my child would never touch.

How about doing the spag bol with grated tofu, Quorn, tinned lentils or just more veg instead of the meat? All a bit softer then mince and may be more tolerated.

I saw a video recently

Fruit puree cooked flat on a tray (guess you can peel & remove seeds before puree)

Cooled

Cut into long strips

Rolled up & eaten like a sweet

Look up some recipes

How about freeze dried fruit ?

Frozen fruit ?

Icecream or sorbet

Make coloured pasta with veg juice ?

You need to educate yourself! Have you never heard of ARFID???? Millions of children have sensory issues surrounding food. 🙄

How on earth is any of that processed besides cereal!?!? You're just being contrary for the sake of it!

OP, you're worrying over nothing his diet is far better than many children with sensory issues. My child has ARFID & ASD and believe me, I'd be over the moon with what you listed! Even her NHS dietician has all but given up trying to get her to try new foods and believe me we've been working with her (the dietician) for 8 years now.

Have you tried freeze dried fruit? Ie strawberries. The texture is very different

I think that as they get older it gets harder for fussy eaters because they start getting embarrassed and upset about it because they know most people eat more variety than them but they really struggle with it (my 12yo doesn't like eating out because he finds it hard to find things he likes on the menu and he's now less fussy than @bigfluffyclouds 9 year old). As parents we should remember that while we are now encouraged to eat a big variety of foods the reality is that for most of human history most people were eating a very small variety of locally available foods. Even just 50 years ago in foods like blueberries, sweet potato, red peppers, spinach, courgette, and mango (all mentioned on this thread) would have been difficult to buy in the UK in February. Keep plugging away encouraging him to try things in a no-stress way and eventually,if the rest of the family eat a good diet, he'll get more adventurous slowly as he gets older.

That's a really restricted diet.

At 9, he's reaching the age where he should be mature enough to realise that he needs to eat a full range of fruit and veg for health. Not every meal can be made up of only his small selection of favourite foods.

How about a discussion on 5 a day and trying to get him to work with you towards hitting that every day? I know its not perfect, but it's a good, easy to understand starting point.

I make homemade veg soup and then mix it with pasta sauce

Could you juice fruit rather than blend? Not the ideal but better than nothing

Kids are fussy though but they usually grow out of it. I was super fussy and friend only ate about 3 things until she was a teenager but you wouldn't guess it from either of us now.

Banana bread

Raisins in cakes

Blueberries in granola etc

No ARFID.

Great ideas. Thank you.

He’s hated most fruit and ‘skin on’ veg since weaning.

No banana (he can smell it in drinks).

I need to use a sieve more. He likes to bake biscuits and will occasionally chop vegetables with me.