Is Your Child a Picky Eater?
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It’s always a difficult task to meet a picky-eater’s demand, especially when that picky eater is a child. Quite often, the child may reject vegetables; toss food into the air like macaroni and cheese, and of course, a whole chaotic drama scene.
It is normal to see a picky-eating child during the early childhood development stage, as what food they prefer or adapted to usually takes place during this period. A child may stop his or her picky-eating habit when they grow up, giving the parents a chance to have a break from trying hard to get their child to eat. Some parents who still cannot get their child to stop being picky about food, it will start to disturb the developmental and physical growth processes, leading to a pediatric feeding disorder.
“The difference between a fussy eater and a child with a feeding disorder is the impact the eating behavior has on a child’s physical and mental health,” says Peter Girolami, Ph.D., Assistant Director of the Pediatric Feeding Disorders Program at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland - one the first programs of its kind in the United States and the largest in the world to treat pediatric feeding disorders.
In fact, pediatric feeding disorders seem to be very common; about 10 percent of all infants and children are affected. “The difference between a fussy eater and a child with a feeding disorder is the impact the eating behavior has on a child’s physical and mental health,” said Girolami.
One can easily distinguish a child with an eating disorder and those whom are food-picky; at least the latter still consume a restricted nourishing amount of food, rather than just a few types of food.
Common symptoms of a pediatric feeding disorder are: 

• An abrupt change in eating habits lasting longer than 30 days
• Delayed development of skill set necessary to self feed or consume higher textures
• Weight-loss or failure to gain appropriate weight
• Choking/coughing during meals
• Unexplained fatigue, loss of energy

• Disruptive behavior during mealtime
Prolonged unawareness towards feeding disorders can lead to serious conditions such as relying on a feeding tube to gain nutrients. It can also lead to other complications such as anemia because of nutritional deficiencies. Worst-case scenario will be that a feeding disorder will obstruct a children’s ability to develop such as with movements and speech. This is why diagnosing for feeding disorders, and also, treatment should be done at an early stage before it’s too late.
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