DD15 Nutrition help

[JeMapellePing]

Hello hive mind: DD15 eats terribly. Today she's had a pita for breakfast with butter; a fridge cake and a smoothie from a cafe; breadsticks; some sticky rice crispie cake stuff; and will likely eat pasta and cheese for dinner. She is neither overweight not underweight and exercises but regularly feels tired and complains of stomach aches. If I attempt to raise "making better choices will make you feel better" she rolls her eyes. She needs a professional who she will listen to to help her navigate making better choices. I've tried looking for a nutritional therapist / dietician to help but none I can find will work with her because she's under 18. She is likely ND (pending diagnosis for ADHD) and texture / smell is an issue so we have a complicated food life anyway. She has recently got a brace which is complicating things. GP advised her to eat meat and green leafy veg (because she also has low iron store) which is as useful as a chocolate teapot. She regularly doesn't come down for meals. It's not about weight control. She has been to the GP about the stomach aches who has run blood tests and "ruled out" the obvious stuff. Thoughts?

I’d just add a multivitamin every day at this point, and read a lot about ARFID

Thanks, @redfishcat. Yes, already doing both of those things. Sigh. Had a moment of thinking maybe I was missing an obvious something else ... (triumph of hope over experience ...)

Multivitamin and a gut healthy drink (Aldi and Lidl, 99p).

She desperately needs some fruit and veg so look into recipes together.

Has she had bloodtests?
My DD was v low in iron and other things and needed iron and other supplements prescribed for a few months.
Since that happened twice she is now on multivitamins+iron to maintain but you may need to get the levels up properly first.

@MrsSkylerWhite thanks yes I know: I think the complete no fruit and veg thing is about her brace just at the moment -- she will normally eat cucumber and a few other bits n bobs (mostly fruit) but isn't just now. But the fact she desperately needs fruit and veg isn't filtering in to her brain and/or she's in a place where she won't take responsibility for it and won't hear of me suggesting anything.

@TeenToTwenties yes, she's had bloods done which were all normal except iron stores; she's been prescribed iron supplements but I wonder if they are making her stomach issues / loss of appetite worse. It's so hard to navigate.

Thanks for feedback and thoughts -- really appreciate them.

She drank a smoothie at a cafe so could you make healthy smoothies at home?

Iron supplements can upset stomachs.
The guidance is something like take with orange juice and no milk, and I have read alternate days helps absorption too.

Mine is similar. She's declining to eat meals or with anyone else.

I'm parking dealing with this until after GCSEs but filling the fridge with things she'll snack on and protein shakes.

Think DD has had a sausage roll at break, a smoothie and an orange when she came in today today. She's refusing dinner. It's in the fridge for when she has a 'hungry window '.

@golemmings yes, exactly this. I suppose it could also be being made worse by exam anxiety (she's in Y11 so GCSEs just about to start) ... I hadn't really considered that might be playing a part. I think we ride it out and hold tight and hope that it all eases out the other side of exams. Good luck to you; thank you for sharing.

@Arglefraster I wish. (We have a nutribullet; she has eaten smoothies at home; but isn't right now). It's a perfect storm of issues I think, with teenage obstructiveness thrown in for good measure.

@TeenToTwenties thank you, yes. I only just twigged the iron could be making it worse. She has decided to stop taking it for a few days to see if it improves her appetite so I suppose that's good because it at least means she is being proactive and curious and taking action within her realm of what she is comfortable with.

Appreciate it, everyone.

This sounds so familiar, you’re doing everything you can and still hitting a wall. The tiredness, tummy aches, and low iron all make sense with that kind of diet, but getting a 15-year-old to care about “better choices” when it’s coming from mum is hard.

It’s so frustrating when the GP gives advice like “eat more leafy greens” as if that’s magically going to happen. And I get what you mean about trying to find someone who your daughter would actually listen to.

I found this website really really helpful when dealing with something similar: https://weareluna.app/parents/guides/nutrition-and-exercise/ and they have an app which your daughter can download and there's lots of advice about healthy eating, but it's said in a way that isn't preachy or annoying, it resonated with my daughter a lot

There's things like recipes but also other general wellbeing stuff