Adhd child will only eat fruit & veg

[ColourfulOnesie]

Looking for some advice from some hopefully more experienced parents

DS is 6 and is currently diagnosed with ADHD but there may be other things at play too, we will be investigating these at a later date

He used to be a really good eater and if anything I’d say there was a slight problem in him not knowing when to stop

Then he started ADHD meds and basically his range of food has whittled down to pretty much just fruit and veg

Will occasionally eat porridge but it’s a breakfast food so he will only eat it in a morning, if I offer it for dinner he will throw it across the room

He can’t solely exist off fruit and veg his insides will be liquid soon

Any ideas of anything, anything I can do??

The meds will be making his mouth dry hence the need for fresh watery food.

When does he take his meds? Usually they kill the appetite, so a big meal just before he takes them and another big one after they have worn off. I found meal replacement drinks worked quite well for the meal when they werent hungry, but they had to be v cold

If he is just not getting his appetite back at all, go back to the prescribing doctor and ask to try another medication. There are lots of different ones and some children have stronger side effects (lack of hunger) with one drug but not another.

You do need to manage it proactively or they just turn into skin and bone and also get used to not eating, which makes it more difficult to get them back in the habit if you stop the medication.

if it’s a stimulant then they kill appetite. so maybe food before? but to be honest my son hates never being hungry and being stuck thin and so he gave up the meds. it’s a difficult one, but see how it goes for a little while ….

Our DS is 8 and experiencing lack of hunger from his meds. Dr gave us a leaflet of foods to try and have advised us to weigh him weekly to keep an eye on him.

His diet is quite restrictive but he at least eats pasta and rice. We've set up a star reward chart and he gets a gold star if he eats a good meal, tries a new food etc. Reward (after 10 stars) is Pokemon cards, his choice!

We have been giving him a lot of ice cream and also pancakes (a good way to get some additional dairy into him) I've also been baking cakes as I know again butter/eggs is going into it. Would he try any of those?

You can get drink supplements but we're not quite there yet. I'd see what you can do proactively first.

Tbh I don’t think it’s an appetite issue, it’s not that he’s not hungry, he’s always saying he’s hungry and asking for food but when given it he will only eat the fruit and veg
So last night was chicken, rice, cucumber and peppers & a corn on the cob, he ate all the veg then flipped his plate over refusing to eat the chicken or rice, then was whining after saying he was hungry so I offered him some toast and fruit and again he ate the fruit and refused the toast then went back to the fridge for more fruit
This morning he was offered weetabix yoghurt and banana, he ate the banana (and surprisingly the yoghurt today) refused the weetabix but went and got an apple

I hadn’t considered he may have a dry mouth I might investigate a little bit more into that @Gogster

@yoshiblue reward and sticker charts make him very angry, that’s never worked for him

Tbh reading the responses I’m a bit annoyed that this was never mentioned to me as something that may become an issue, especially as he was already a little bit underweight when he started the meds

So long as he's having diary, eggs & milk etc for B12, plus eating some form of protein such as pulses. Then that's a pretty good diet & I really wouldn't worry.

FYI, at 6 I realised what meat was & refused it from there onwards, could something like that maybe be at play too?

He is allergic to cows milk(but not other dairy, only raw milk) so no dairy milk, won’t eat eggs and protein is my biggest worry as aside from the odd yoghurt he won’t eat any protein; no meat, chicken, fish, any form of cheese, no cold meats so nothing like a sausage roll, won’t eat baked beans and will pick out things like chickpeas/mixed beans in stews etc and leave them in a pile on his plate

I’ve even been trying to feed him in front of a screen so he doesn’t notice but he spits out anything else instantly

his mouth will be so dry and they will kill his appetite anyway. Even when he’s hungry he won’t ‘fancy’ anything. Like when you can’t find something you want to eat, nothing seems like it’s worth the effort of cutting up and chewing.
Make sure he’s hydrated and offer drinks maybe before his food.
sounds like he’s eating cold / liquidy type foods. So can you offer milks, shakes,
also what about trying other cold finger foods that aren’t much effort to eat - finger sandwiches picnic food etc
for now whilst you get used to it just make sure he’s hydrated and eating something then you can work on a balanced diet from there. At least he’s eating veg!

What about a veg soup? You could even stir an unflavoured protein powder into it, pulsin do dairy free ones.

@ColourfulOnesie Oh bless him (re: star/reward charts). My DH is a clinical psychologist and I will mention this to him as he may suggest an alternative.

How long has it been? This page says the dry mouth should pass but the loss of appetite might continue.
www.nhs.uk/medicines/methylphenidate-children/

I would ask whoever is prescribing his ADHD medication to refer him to a dietitian.

Sorry, I assumed the medication there, it might be a different one. The website has other medicines on it too.

That's a worry then @ColourfulOnesie. If he eats peas, then that's good for protein, but not for vitamin B12, (& a deficiency which can have big effects on body & mind

DD did similar when younger, we are vegetarian anyway, but stopping diary etc was a huge worry & her protein intake was very low & zebras need exceptionally good diet more than most. DD gets B12 injections for PA from our doctors, so that wasn't a worry, but the protein was tough. I ended up buying protein powder & adding it to pancakes etc & that worked. Hopefully there's something he will eat or drink that yiu can hide protein powder in & id suggest a good quality B12 supplement & maybe iron too

Would he drink a smoothie that you could add protein powder to? But, I agree, ask the doctors for referral to a nutrionnist.

Oh & just a thought, was he ever checked thoroughly for B12 deficiency?

They missed it in my daughter for years, nhs tests aren't great & that can have adhd like effects & more. She can't process B12 well due to genetics... very common with zebras & we saw how low B12 makes joints looser as it has a role in collagen production & much more. By the time we secured treatment for her, she was in a wheelchair with 9 badly bendy joints... down to 7 with B12 injections, even noted by GOSH... & she has had no significant injuries since as her Joints are thankfully generally more stable thanks to B12. Made a huge difference to her mentally too, much clearer headed & more focused too.

Chicken, rice and toast are all very dry. How is he with wet dishes like bolognese, curry, pasta bake?

Would he take oats in a smoothie? Or an egg yolk in mashed potato?

If you give more specific examples of what he will eat, I might have ideas of how to get more in there (I’m sadly on expert on covert nutrition)

Thanks that is really helpful.

@BlackeyedSusan

This website is the most reliable one for trustworthy B12 deficiency information in one place. The linked Facebook support group was a godsend to us when chasing diagnosis & treatment & there's lots of zebras on there. They told me that DS joints & POTs would improve, we'd had such a hard run of years of back to back injuries, not helped by her younger self being a kamikaze kid that I hardly dare believe it, but it's made a huge difference to her...

www.b12deficiency.info/children/

If he'll eat yogurt you can try getting some of the high protein yogurts and see if he'll have them? Some can be a bit "gritty" so he might not like, otherwise just naturally high protein yogurt types? At least to bump up his protein until it is resolved

@Shedcity yes that is really what it’s like, he’ll say he’s hungry, I’ll rattle off 300 different options and get a no to every single one, like he just doesn’t know what he fancies!

@UniversalTruth hes been on the day meds for about 8 weeks-ish now? I will definitely have a look through the link Thankyou

@RockinHorseShit wow I can’t believe one vitamin would have that much affect (effect? I never know which one!) DS has never had his checked, he’s never had any blood work done at all actually come to think of it - I will definitely look into this Thankyou for the info!

@Trivester wet foods are very hit and miss and tbh if it’s say spaghetti bolognese chances are he’ll eat the spaghetti and leave the bolognese, if it’s a beef stew or a chicken casserole he’ll pick out the carrots/potatoes etc to eat and leave the chicken or beef, curry again if I put potatoes in he’ll eat, but dodge the chicken, chickpeas and any ‘slimy’ veg like spinach or if there’s peppers in a chilli
Cold and crunchy is his thing really

I’ve just tried to compile a list of what he will eat and it’s actually more than I thought I was surprised so that’s good! Will eat:

• almost any fruit or veg, not if it’s deemed slimy though so no tomatoes, mushrooms, cooked peppers or spinach etc also won’t eat mashed anything


• porridge as long as it has blueberries in


• weetabix very occasionally


• dry cheerios & raisins in a pot is one of my go to snacks with him


• pizza


• sausages, but not in a bun, not hotdog sausages, no cold sausages or sausage rolls


• plain pasta


• biscuits (obviously!)


• the occasional yoghurt


• nutri grain cereal bars - only these

And I think that’s literally it - some days he’ll surprise me like a couple of weeks ago he ate pasta and meatballs, but I’ve tried again since and he only ate the pasta so its unpredictable really

Every single food has some protein, even fruit and vegetables. Dairy is not necessary for health either.

Can he not just eat more fruit and veg? Many people live on this. It's also what our digestive system (long intestine) is designed for.

Unflavoured protein powder added to porridge or smoothies would help.

Lentils cooked down very soft and liquidised in soup

Protein yoghurts

Hummus with carrot sticks?

Sorry cut myself off there that should read ‘only these brand of cereal bars’

RockinHorseShit wow I can’t believe one vitamin would have that much affect (effect? I never know which one!) DS has never had his checked, he’s never had any blood work done at all actually come to think of it - I will definitely look into this Thankyou for the info!

I've been having bother remembering which to use today too 😂

Our GP who was initially reluctant to give her a trial of B12 injections, as her bloods came back in range, described the effects on DD as "nothing short of miraculous" it actually got her out of a wheelchair in under 2 weeks & back in school after 6 weeks after years of being too ill to cope with any of it. Cured diagnosed allergies & much more too. Good luck, if he needs it, it can be a game changer

He can’t solely exist off fruit and veg his insides will be liquid soon

Vegans and vegetarians manage it! At the bottom of the page there is a list of veg that is high in protein

www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/best-sources-protein-vegans/amp