Is it normal for autistic children to be totally uninterested in food

[shouting]

I have 2 children with ASD, they are both incredibly fussy, which I know is quite common.

But they are also not even interested in food they like most of the time. Every meal is a battle to get them to the table, and to get them to eat even a small amount of food. They don't snack at all because when I offer one they usually say no.

They just don't seem to feel hunger at all. The eldest one is particularly bad for this, and as she's an 11 year old girl this worries me.

It is particularly noticeable over Christmas as they received lots of chocolate, and of course we have lots of other nice food in the house (which I bought specially for them as I know they like it) and it's all sitting there untouched.

Neither child is underweight so their paediatrician is uninterested when I mention it, but both are very skinny, and the eldest is on the very bottom of the healthy weight range for her height.

I've tried cooking and baking with them, it makes no difference. In fact the eldest loves to bake, and she regularly makes cakes or biscuits that sit there uneaten and they eventually get thrown away

Is anyone else's child like this? How do you deal with it?

Ds aged 6 with asd has always been like this, it’s so difficult. He really only eats about 4 different things, all beige and won’t ever eat a proper meal like everyone else. We don’t worry about it anymore, he’s seen a dietician and he’s gaining weight and has multivitamins etc so we just make eating as relaxed as possible for him.

We actually find he eats more if he’s able to sit on the sofa and eat whilst watching stuff on his iPad, so we let him do that. I think he finds sitting at a table with everyone else really anxiety inducing and uncomfortable so he will hardly eat like that at all. Might be worth a try?

I don't let them eat on the sofa as they are both incredibly messy eaters and our sofas are fabric. The eldest has dyspraxia and not a meal time goes by without her knocking her drink over or spilling her food down herself, and the youngest will happily smear his food everywhere just for fun. It's much less stressful for everyone to eat in the kitchen where everything is wipe clean and I'm not constantly nagging them if they're being clumsy or messy.

I do let DS watch his tablet at the table fairly regularly, but I've not noticed improved eating, if anything he zones out and forgets about his food and we have to keep prompting him to eat! At least he sits still though, which he wouldn't otherwise!

My eldest DS was totally uninterested in food for years. He was a nightmare to wean and would have happily lived off breast milk until he was well over 2.

When he was about 7 he started to change. He now loves all food. He is just as happy to eat broccoli as cake, and he eats adult sized meals at 9. His younger brother on the other hand...……..

I would say that it is definitely not unusual, and my experience shows that it might not last forever.