So as not to drip-feed, my 10 year old daughter has T1 diabetes and has long-term OCD issues. Food restriction was a problem before her T1 diagnosis, but having T1 has made things worse in a way because we/she obviously do have to be quite mindful about what she's eating, is it enough, etc.
I'm worried that this may be getting worse. In some ways she's better than a couple of years ago, in that there are more foods she will eat. But she's incredibly rigid on not eating anything that's unfamiliar or not in her "plan". She takes packed lunch to school, but sometimes she's leaving or not eating bits (like taking the filling out of her wrap or not eating the snack) and this causes problems in terms of the T1 management. Yesterday we were at a family friend's for a special occasion and she got really panicked at the buffet food and wouldn't eat anything because she didn't know if it was safe.
I understand that she's anxious about her condition and eating the right things, but I can't unpick how much of it is to do with that and whether some of it is contamination-OCD / magical thinking or other things. She seems anxious about gaining weight (although she isn't gaining any unexpected weight, but she is 10 and her body is changing a bit).
I am concerned about her mental wellbeing and also her physical health, because her diabetes isn't as well-contolled as it could be and I think partly due to what she's eating and how much. She's also constantly constipated and then doesn't want to eat because her stomach is sore and bloated and she doesn't feel hungry.
She's due to have a follow up appointment with the paediatric dietician, but I feel that I need to look into some additional support for her. I'm just not sure if I'm potentially going to make the problem worse by drawing attention to it, but she is constantly anxious about food and eating and I don't know how to help.