Grandchild won’t eat any fruit or vegetables at all

[Coralmary]

My grandchild who is 9 and is statemented and attending a special school has always had difficulty with eating and food . She had severe developmental delays and suffered with reflux as a baby. My daughter was advised to let her have what she wants to eat as long as she was eating. She could hours without eating and never showed signs of interest in food. Now she is always asking for food but will not eat anything what we call healthy . Today we tried to encourage her to eat a tiny tomato and she gagged on it and spat it out and became very distressed. We want to avoid upsetting her but we all are worried that she is not getting the nutrients she needs. Please any suggestions on how to get vegetables and fruit down her . My daughter tried mixing vegetables in a bolognaise and although we thought they were disguised my granddaughter refused to eat the meal as it looked different ! She can spot a sign of green veg from a great distance. Any suggestions gratefully received.

Don't force her to eat fruit and veg? My dd is autistic and is the same - she could spot a blended vegetable in a sauce a mile off. She has sensory issues around taste and texture and it could be that your dgd is the same. She would and still will rather go hungry than eat food she doesn't like. In the end I decided it wasn't worth the battle and gave her what I know she would it. Give her vitamins if you're worried but don't let mealtimes become a battleground.

I look after a 5 year old who won’t eat fruit or veg except fruit juice ( one of your 5 a day)

She will eat baby fruit pouches . At least she is getting something

Multivit and try things a little at a time never when hungry always an option but never forced

So what does your bolognaise without vegetables contain????

Make your own fruit kebabs - put little bowls of sweets like marshmallows, Haribo etc out alongside some chopped strawberries, grapes etc, chocolate sauce for dipping etc and do the activity whilst doing something distracting like watching a movie etc. Dont make any comment on what she does or doesn't put on her kebabs. She might not use any fruit but if you do a similar thing on a regular ish basis she probably will eventually.

Ask for a referral to a Pediatric dietian. They will have seen this lots before.

If they can tolerate it then do lots of sensory play with food just so the become more familiar with it.

It could be the "mushyness" of the fruit and veg that is putting her off. Try some veg crisps and other veg that you can bake to a super crisp state. Even if you have to coat in breadcrumbs to make crispy. Lots of ketchup and mayo or any other sauces she might like to dip into.

I made a sauce to have with pasta and it had about 8 different veg in it. I slow cook and blend it. Happy to give you the recipe if you want. I got it from a baby led weaning app.

My son is the same so I have to do stuff like arranging cucumber slices, grated carrots and cherry toms into funny by faces, it hasn't helped yet. My son goes to a feeding therapist and she advised making food creative and fun, getting him involved in food prep and most importantly to keep offering fruit and veg every day but not force them to eat it. Also to mix fruit and veg into things like have ice cream with fruit or spag bol with blended veg in the sauce. Also give them multivitamins so they get all the nutrient they need even if they don't eat the healthy stuff.

Sounds like my son. Thing is, wholemeal bread with seeds, potatoes mainly in the form of chips, and one flavour of smoothie, plus ketchup and a bit of milk, contains the vitamins and fibre he needs, according to the dietician, though he also has multivitamins to be on the safe side.

When anxious, he restricts his diet further, and when relaxed may try something else. There's various foods he eats at home but nowhere else, usually after them being cooked badly elsewhere, so his grandparents feed him on pancakes and custard and bread when they have him for a few days.

His dad was similar and got better around 14, I wasn't so extreme but got more adventurous about the same age. Ds is amazingly healthy and growing on the 50 th percentile for height and weight so I try not to worry.

My 19 year old has autism and is a very selective eater. He is much better now but still eats very little fruit and vegetables. It has to be sweet and crunchy so apple, raw carrot etc. But at 18 months he literally only ate potato waffles so it's a huge improvement.

Will she have smoothies, you can blend in veg with tge fruit.

How about ice cream, if you freeze whole bananas then blend them straight out of the freezer its like having an icecream.

You can also use bananas to make pancaks. Just mush one up with an egg and fry dollops to make little pancakes.

Mine is another one who gets his vitamins from seedy bread, pea ut butter and chops, mainly. He can't eat pasta without gagging.

We can hide some bits in cake, though, so has banana, carrot, squash, blueberry or raspberry muffins in his packed lunch - though I do have to add a lot of extra sugar to my recipe for carrot. And he loves rhubarb. He won't touch raw fruit, even with his hands, though he has recently taken to following me around with my bananas shouting "going bananas!" so I guess finding something hilarious can mitigate the sensory aversion, somewhat!

Chips. Though he loves chops, too, once we've disposed of the bones so he doesn't try to eat them.

I bribed mine with chocolate/cakes/sweets. Or offered no pudding without veg (or fruit).
I have zero guilt on this & my kids have zero hangups about food, in case you wondered.

My now 10yo DC was the worst for not trying anything, especially not veg. Still wouldn't have a sauce (does ketchup count?) so OP is ahead of us. DS still wouldn't have smoothies, fruit muffins, any raw veg... I got him to like grape juice last year which was an amazing achievement.

Potatoes, even if chipped, provide vitamin C and so does tomato ketchup. One of my DC never ate any vegetable or fruit except potatoes and tomato sauce until he grew up. He never got scurvy.

Look into how to manage sensory disorder. You have to be very sensitive about introducing new food. It may be worth getting professional help with this.

Don’t let mealtimes become a battle. Don’t try and hide things, it doesn’t work! Advice like try cooking together, just keep offering new foods, eventually they will try it, hide veg in cakes - all rubbish!

DD is like this as a result of food issues relating to food allergies and Coeliac disease. Her dietician says not to worry and add a multi vit into diet (chewy one like a sweet). Milk contains vitamins as does butter / spreads. Cheese and yogurt have calcium, potatoes even chipped are good, cereals are fortified. Fruit and veg aren’t the only ways to get minerals, vits and fiber.

Bean burger with pureed veg? Rissoles or cheesy bake with smooth pureed veg in the mix?

I have a DD (5) who is neurotypical, but has always had issues with food. I really wouldn't be trying to get her to eat a tomato!

She will now eat broccoli, strawberries and bananas, so I've accepted that. For her, texture is key - she'll eat a lot more things as puree (including tomato); the Ella's Kitchen pouches have been a winner. We should probably revisit a multivitamin - she used to drink formula milk (which was fortified) but she wouldn't cope with a chewy sweet.

She will help prepare quite a few foods (e.g. crumble) which she won't eat; she won't eat sauces or bolognaise.

DD will go hungry rather than eat a new food - I do get how frustrating it is!

Could you tell us what she will eat? So if it’s Bolognaise perhaps add one pureed food at a time, such as a cooked carrot that has been added to the sauce and cooked with the rest of the ingredients

Home made pasta sauce? Roast toms and peppers and blend with seasonings and simmer. Yum and healthy! (Just a pinch of sugar)