Did some ND children starve before chicken nuggets were invented?

[BusWankers]

I'm not being horrible, genuinely curious.

You read on here how a child who has autism or some other issue, will only eat safe foods. Usually a lot of things like chicken nuggets, a particular brand of cheese and onion crisps, Nutella, supermarket pizzas (UPF mostly)

Do we think children in the 1920s just went hungry? Or perhaps they were forced to eat foods they didn't like. After all you do hear stories,of adults even now being made to sit at the table and choke down food etc.

My brother in the late 70s/early 80s was wrapped in a towel (so he couldn't run away or thrash about) and force fed nutrient powder drinks because he did not eat. He had regular hospital visits for his eating/growth. Some children really will starve themselves if they can't face eating what's been put in front of them.

Nobody gives their child a chicken nugget for the first time knowing that they’ll develop ARFID.

incidentally, my child with ARFID has buttered toast and apples as his main safe foods and refuses to eat meat of any kind, so no, it’s not just chicken nuggets/UPFs.

there’s a staggering amount of ignorance on display in this thread from a lot of very privileged people who’ve clearly never had the difficulties of pleading with their child to just. eat. something.

if you find it please can you PM it to me. I’d be very interested after having a child that physically gags on a lot of food.

Totally understand that. I had an ED as a teen and I was also very mindful to not have that be a thing in our home.
I have 2 formally diagnosed with ARFID it’s interesting to see how different their issues are.
my oldest daughter refused to wean at all, at 15 months she was still only taking breast milk, and she stayed very avoidant until she went to school and that did help a little being with others, she still has an avoidant streak and is very tiny (5ft tall and weighs around 6.5st. but she’s a lot better than she used to be.
my son on other hand always liked food. Then he suddenly refused everything aged about 5. He then slowly built up 9 safe foods and to this day they are all he will eat, no variation. He eats loads. But only those safe foods. He’s 21 now and I don’t see it changing any time soon.

In 'previous times' in a working class family someone else would eat it, food could not be wasted as there often wasn't much around.

@Pricelessadvice No, I wouldn't be shocked. I've seen lots of ignorance on threads about ARFID before. And I'll continue to post on them with views trying to oppose the ignorance when I have time.

Yes my ND nephew usually eats pasta like you describe. He likes chocolate

I remember that lucozade was once sold in Chemists but I don't remember if newsagents sold it too ? It would certainly have been the big bottle as there were not half as many Brands of soft drink we now have.
I was a Pepsi or Tango drinker myself so wouldn't have particularly noticed tbh . Born in 65 .

This is an interesting thread. I am reading through it now (up to page 6)

One of my children, DS (23) does not have autism or AFRID as far as I know, but eats very bland food.. He has, when little, tried other foods like a Stew or Spag Bol .. He likes the Spag bol but his usual food likes are Pizza, Chicken curry and rice, sausage rolls, steak bakes and those mac and cheese ready meals
His younger brother eats (or at least tries) anything

Great points. This is what ignorant people fail to grasp. Autistic people view and experience the word differently (shock horror!) and something like swallowing to the average person is innate and no issues, but more difficult for those with sensory issues. That will definitely partly explain the difficulties in getting them to eat foods they don’t want to.

Also the element of sameness will have an impact. They like what they like and the routine that comes with it.

This 100%!

I’m not ND but definitely grew up with sensory difficulties and food aversions.

why the hell do they make so many meds for kids “flavoured” so much of my childhood was my poor mum trying to make me take a medicine in liquid form which I just couldn’t. I would only drink strawberry squash or one other very, very specific drink so it was just highly, highly distressing for us both.

the biggest technological and medical breakthrough will be medicines that are totally neutral in texture and flavour, or in a transdermal patch form.

It is how pasta is eaten that is why italian places will do it. That is the typical way of eating it.

My carer is mid 40s and has a few issues with food, very rarely he will try some of what I am eating but I have seen his reaction when it was something he, well it wasn't pretty.

Strangely he recently started eating cold baked potato. He won't touch one hot.

I’m autistic I ate chicken, yoghurt, chips (homemade), crisps. For years.

@PissedOffNeighbour22are you sure it was radiators she poured food down the back of? Hardly anyone had radiators in the 20s and 30s. If she was extremely affluent and lived somewhere with radiators the would not have been flush with a wall and pouring food down the back would not have concealed it. Fraid your anecdote isn’t ringing true.

I read it as when she was in hospital she was pouring the food way.

@sashh yes at the hospital.
@TheWatersofMarch feel free to do a seance and ask her yourself then.

The trouble there is, if you put an unsafe food on the same plate as a safe one you run the risk of them also refusing the safe food as it becomes (in their eyes) contaminated.
it was doing this that kicked off a total food strike in my son that ended up with him needing to be tube fed and it took years to get him back to where he had been.

Sorry, but except the butter that is all UPF

I remember my brother's friend, who often came round for Sunday dinner or other meals, and every single time he'd say no thanks to the meal and ask for a cheese and pickle sandwich instead. I remember being amazed that my mum always made him that cheese and pickle sandwich because the rest of us were not allowed to refuse dinner.

I had issues with certain textures and with sauces. I would scrape all the sauce off my meat with curries and casseroles for instance, then swallow it down in small pieces with a drink water - so cut a tiny piece, stick it in my mouth, take a gulp of water and swallow it down. Same with overcooked carrots which I couldn't stand. Mushrooms I could not eat, and still can't eat, but I don't remember having to eat them at home so perhaps my mum just didn't serve them to me knowing how severe my reaction to them was, but everything else I had to eat even if it took an hour. But she turned a blind eye to me sticking the food in my cheek and then spitting it down the toilet. I don't recall my ND brother having any issues with food though, he ate everything and will still eat everything, even stuff he's allergic to on occasion.

Depends how it's made surely?
Home made bread, home made chips, homemade pasta,.none of those are UPF.

You're wrong.

Pasta isn't UPF (unless it's like Thomas the tank engine tinned pasta) - it's processed, but all pasta is processed... But it's not ultra processed.

Chips, again,not UPF, unless it's like potato smile faces or whatever. Even frozen chips are usually just potato and oil...

Bread - will entirely depend in what bread was used.

Butter, as you agree, definitely not UPF (if it was actually butter the OP was talking about and not some buttery spread like I can't Believe It's Not Butter)

No it isnt. Even the bread would depend what sort of bread it is.

UPF obsessions have taken logic out of peoples brains.