Food intake of very fussy eater and height

[jasperc163]

Interested in people's thoughts on this. DD (2.4) is extremely fussy eater (had bad reflux when baby) and dairy intolerant. She has been ill alot this winter and so her food intake has been even poorer than usual for the last 4-5 months. She has just been weighed and hasnt increased at all in the past few months (and only 500g in total since last July) but this is no surprise really given her food intake

I have a book by a paed called 'My child wont eat' which said something like only 5% of child's food intake is used for growth (rather than weight i assume as the correlation there is fairly obvious). My daughter was pretty tall for her age but again is now falling here (on the percentiles).

So my question is - is her low food intake (and fussiness) likely to affect height and growth where it really matters (or is this largely genetic) or mostly just weight. She sees a paed and they always check height too which is what makes me worry.

Its difficult as i alternate between feeling that i should put my foot down re meals and try to tackle the fussiness by not offering any alternatives, but at the same time thinking i should just get some calories into her!

thanks
alice

Paeds always check height and weight first, whatever they are seeing your child about. My child went for waterworks problem and was checked for these things too.

I never took too much notice of my dc as they ate, at that age because I was too busy eating my own food. But none of them were underweight. It can be a vicious circle, worrying about their food intake - they pick up on that and eat less - so you worry more ...

My advice (I have lots of experience in this area ) is to not push it.

My dd lived almost entirely on milk, raisins, dry cornflakes and unbuttered bread for a while - dry cornflakes and the bread were my alternatives to the meal I was offering.

She didn't even eat chips (I was confused, I thought all children liked chips) until she was 4, roast potatoes until 5 and yorkshire puds until 6 - all things she now loves for an occasional treat.

I didn't make that big a deal about it, she got over it slowly and now eats almost anything, has very healthy attitude to food, always eats her 5 a day and will try all new foods (she is 8).Sprouts have been her fave veg since she was 4.5.

My DS (3.5) has a very limited diet of about 5 main meals - no veg at all although eats bananas and raisins - and 2 breakfast cereals - he will eat sandwiches etc - life can be very boring. He is quite small and skinny, but has SN inc health problems including a glucose metabolisation problem. I would rather he had jacket spud and cheese for lunch every day than ate nothing.

Ask your Paed if you can be referred to a nutritionist, who will probably reassure you that she is getting what she needs.

Think about what she eats and give her the best you can. DS liked fish fingers, so now I make organic salmon fillets sliced and covered in crushed cornflakes and he will eat several - perhaps half a small fillet?

DD used to like chicken nuggets (I blame the nursery) so I bought M&S organic chicken breast goujons or made them - so that instead of reclaimed meat she was getting real meat.

They both like pizza so I make my own, including the tomato sauce. I put grated carrots and finely chopped celery in the sauce and the mouli after it has been cooked to make it smooth, they can't tell the difference.

If your DD likes spag bol or cottage pie, make it with really good lamb mince (British of course) - it is far fattier than beef so extra cals.

With mashed pots/jacket pots add loads of cream, butter and cheese every calorie counts.

Also I let my DS 'help' me whenever I can with the cooking, he will stick alsorts in his mouth and try it - he ate a matchbox sized lump of stilto the other day!

Hope these ideas help.

Has she been checked for coeliac disease? It is a cause of poor weight gain and failure to grow, because the nutrients are not absorbed properly by the body. A child with coeliac disease also often has a very poor appetite.

thanks to all of you for your suggestions. She is on a pretty much dairy free diet and so has Neocate milk via the paed & dietician we see to bump up her diet a bit as they are a little concerned (and that was before this last few months of illness)

She wasnt showing any real failure to thrive until autumn (i assume coeliac would show up before that) - last spring/summer she was 90-99th for height and 50-75th for weight which was good considering that she has always been very difficult to feed and extremely fussy (incl before solids). She started going off food in autumn and then since mid dec has had a temperature or something at least every 2 weeks. I am starting to think she is suffering from recurrent ear infections (each time she gets a cold which is all the time as she started nursery in Jan). As a result we are now down to about 50th for height as no growth for a while and obviously no weight increase.

At the moment she is refusing pretty much all food and isnt herself (though she is drinking some Neocate) so i think i have to get her ears looked at again on monday

Marmadukescarlet - thanks for the happy ending story re your DD. I live in hope :-)

jasper-coeliac disease can develop at any age. My DS5 tested negative for coeliac 3 years ago (after DS1 was diagnosed with it) but was retested just before Christmas last year and this time was positive. A biopsy confirmed it. Always worth checking if there are problems with weight gain and growth.

our son was a very poor eater and sleeper until he had his tonsils out and grommets in when he was 3. his middle ear was full of fluid ( instead of air) and his speech was very indistinct. he has constant high temps and episodes of ear pain

50th centile isn't low in weight though remember, it's bang slap average. Dd at this age was a dreadfully fussy eater and, like your dd, any illness would see her small appetite completely disappear. She was only ever on the 25th centile but nobody I saw seemed particularly concerned about her weight. She also had a dairy allergy but I breast fed her and just kept extending it plus I could give her goats milk.

One thing it might be worth trying, if you haven't already, is extending the foods she's been tested for for allergy. I suggest this because just 6 months ago my dd (then 5) went into anaphylactic shock after eating peanut butter for the first time. Allergy tests showed a severe allergy to peanuts, cashews and sesame seeds and the consultant I saw said that 'fussiness' over food when very young is often a sign of a child who has food allergies. They are suspicious of the way food makes them feel as even a slight allergy to something can make their mouth / tongue / throat tingle and put them off trying it or trying anything they don't know. It explains so many things to me now, like that dd never wanted to eat cake, probably there were traces of nuts and it affected her mouth and put her off.

Just a thought.

thanks . I think we are in a vicious circle of earache, viruses from nursery, not eating and immune system just getting weaker and weaker. Don't seem able to break the cycle.

She is barely eating at all at the moment.

I wasnt concerned about her being on the 50th, just that there has been no progression height or weight wise since last summer. But given the state she is in at the moment thats no real surprise i suppose.

One thing that is really not good is that i just cant get much vit C into her. She has Dalivit drops in her Neocate (which she has refused this morning, but normally drinks) which provides 50mg but thats it atm. In the past she ate avocados but stopped about 7 months ago, pasta sauce with brocolli (until about a month ago) and occasional apple (wont touch them either now). No drinks or smoothies or anything else. I gave her some Sambucol but it made her sick.

Tearing my hair out as she looks so thin and pale. Is it common for them to be constantly ill if at nursery in the winter?