From United States and Canada call
Is It a Behavioral Issue or an Appetite Problem ?
I had seen plenty of poor eaters in my practice, but this one had left me with no doubts that he was the worst amongst all. . With a history of bird’s appetite, this time he was breaking all records. It was nearly three days since he had taken a morsel. It looked as if he had taken recourse to some kind of Satyagraha. Any attempt to feed him forcefully would end up in a vomit. The young parents were nearly on the verge of a breakdown, when on the fourth day he ended his fast.
When kids don’t eat, why is it that they don’t eat? What makes them a poor eater?
The Eating disorders are complex disorders. It could be a simple behavioral disagreement to food or as some Research shows that its origins can have more than one reason – Biopsychosocial. A neurobiological brain disorder with a strong heritability component is also under investigation. Some individuals with eating disorders have an imbalance of certain chemicals in the brain that control hunger, appetite, and digestion. The exact meaning and implications of these imbalances remains under investigation. Behavioral disagreement occurs if the child is force-fed or over -fed.
When kids don’t eat, it can be very distressing for their parents, but is this disorder treatable?
Yes, but first it is important to understand the relationship between the child?s total family environment and his eating disorder. The individuality of each child is an important factor in assessing the most suitable approach for dealing with food refusal. It would simply be illustrated by a case that I treated without any medication. A child of two had developed a very obstinate food refusal. It was assessed that the disorder had no biological angle, but was a case of behavioral disagreement. The mother was feeding the child at an inappropriate time, seven thirty in the morning, as she had to leave for her job by eight, which had resulted in an overall refusal to food. A simple adjustment in the feeding time gave the desired results.
In another case a little one had developed disgust for food after her mother used harsh punishment for not finishing meals in time. Such a situations can become a psychological deterrent and the child may sub consciously develop a contempt for food.
Homoeopathic medicines are very helpful in treating eating disorders.. Antimonium Crudum, Lycopodium, Nux Vomica are a few of the important homoeopathic medicines. Antimonium crudum is very helpful for infants who vomit milk immediately after breast-feed. Some peculiar mind symptoms easily identify the child who requires this medicine along with a very weak appetite he is Cross and contradictive; whatever is done fails to give satisfaction. The little one is Sulky; does not wish to speak. Child cannot bear to be touched or looked and gets angry at every little attention.
Lycopodium has a very strange indication. Although the child may be very hungry, eating ever so little satiates him easily. Nux vomica is often an abused appetite stimulant. Nux should only be used only when it is indicated. It should not be used as an appetite panacea. Homoeopathic medicines should only be used with the advice of an expert homoeopath.
Eating disorder can result out of general ill health as in chronic disorders like asthma and recurrent coughs and colds, also at times a result of over or an improper medication. Such children need to be treated with a constitutional and holistic approach where the root cause is identified and remedied.
The child being referred as ?he? in the above feature is just a grammatical connotation. It does not favour any sex.
Hello doctor,
I am a mother of 5.6 years old son.he is u underweight and underheight.he is 109 cm tall and weighs 15 kg.he is otherwise perfectly healthy.
I am 5.6 ” tall and my husband is also of same height.we both are not skinny.
my son has been always a fussy eater.he would always eat small quantity and if forced for more complain for stomach ache and vomit.
He never likes trying new stuff.
he would keep the bite in mouth for atleast 15-20 minutes.
I am really frustrated.
pls help.
Regards,
archana dewang-patil
Hello Doctor,
my kid is 1 year old He is under weight, lean and weak, i feel very sad when i see him he is so thin offently falls while walking , can u suggest me some tonics to make him healthy and strong enough.
Thnks&Rgds
Deepa
hello sir,
this is adv. hema from karnal, my baby is 22 months old and she is very fussy eater .,she doesnt like anything and feeding her is like punishment to me, i have consulted many doctors for d problem but doesnt get any solution. she doesnt get hungry,please give me a solution for d problem. Sometimes she makes me depressed.Really i m very fed up from this,please suggest me any medicine or solution for this,
thanks a lot.
My 4year daughter is underweight.she does not eat so much . She always suffeting from cold and cough and she vomit when coughing.plz suggest some medicine
My husband is having snoring issue at night .But when he sleep on making left side ,no such snoring happens . Pls help to get rid of that .
My daughter is 7 months & she is suffering from loss of appetite . Morning at 6:30 she had milk with cerelac wheat near about 100ml but after that till 11:00am she dont feel hungry. Pls suggest what shall i give her for appetite .
Hi doc
my son 4 years old, diagnosed with autism recently, has extreemly poor diet. he has this problem since he was 2 months old. He was taking poridge untill 3 years of age. Then he seitched to chapati (no curry). No fruits n veggies. No meat or lentils. He loves milk n chapati. His bmi is below normal. He has seversl.episodes of feeding through ng tube. Since 3-4 months he is not interested in chapati as well. He is much taller than his age. Fair complexion. Not feeling enough energy to play and run as he was used to. Refused to try every new thing.
im extreemly worried.
need ur help
navedsha
My 5 years old baby dosent want to eat wt can i do? Wt z the homeopatic med for her? Sometime she feels hungry bt at the same moment she wants to play so just she take little n thn leave the food n start play. Plz tel me med i m worried for her. Believe in homeopatic med.
hello doctor I am india. my son 3years old donot eat properly he never ask for food. we used to force him but all in vain sir. suggest any medicine
Hello doctor,
My son is four and half yrs old and is underweight. Whole day he says he is not hungry..
Hello,doctor
I m very much worried about my son’s(1.9yr) eating habit.he doesn’t have any interest in eating at all.he take something only while watching his cartoon .sometime even such trick doesn’t work..throughout a day he takes only milk n half a chppati…I m very tense as new it is time to send him to preparatory school…pls help
My daughter is going to complete two years this month. She has been a fussy eater ever since she was born. She was born at 37 weeks and her birth weight was 2200 gms. She used to vomit breast milk and refused to take any formula. Since, she used to vomit after almost every feed her weight got affected. I was asked to start with solids as early as when she was 4 months old but even with that it was the same. She vomited during every meal.
But, the real problem has started now and i am seeming to giveup. I just delivered another baby a few days back. I have been giving more time and attention to my first one than what i was before the second one came. But, off late she is refusing to eat like she never did before. Its been almost a week and she is not eating even half of what she used to eat before. Since she is already low on weight i feel even more worried. Please help..
a boy of 2 and a half year old doesnt eat main food. If he is hungry he has some snacks. What are the remedies?
Hi Dr.
My son is 7yrs old. Nd since 2-3yrs ago he eat so badly. He evens hit his food away, nd his lunch i put in for school comes back just like tht. His so thin yes im worried nd at the point tht i say i giv up.
concern mom
Hello Dr my son is 3 year old. Not eating anything. If we give forcibly he will vomits. Please help me to increase his Appétit.
Hello Dr my son is 3 year old. Not eating anything. If we give forcibly he will vomits. Please help me to increase his Appétit
From my childhood I had constipation. Weekly I have to go for stools only two or three times. In the age of 10 I got piles. No treatment was taken. Suddenly I have lost my appetite in 21 years.. after some days the appetite came back. Like that the appetite has lost next year. Again the appetite came back.. third time in 1996 I have lost my appetite till know. Now my age is 41. Lot of treatment taken in allopathy etc.. my bilrubin is always above 2 total. Dr told that it was not jaundice by biopsy and other tests. My motion has mucus.. tell me what medicine should I take.. Please. .
From my childhood I had constipation. Weekly I have to go for stools only two or three times. In the age of 10 I got piles. No treatment was taken. Suddenly I have lost my appetite in 21 years.. after some days the appetite came back. Like that the appetite has lost next year. Again the appetite came back.. third time in 1996 I have lost my appetite till know. Now my age is 41. Lot of treatment taken in allopathy etc.. my bilrubin is always above 2
My going to be 3 year old next month is a very picky eater & eats in very small quantities. She did all her milestones in time,good in communication & has reasonably good common sense for her age. But she does not eat like any other child. When I repeatedly ask dr’s dey say in course of time she vil improve. Her weight for 2 y 11 m is 12.5 vry poor. Iam realy fed up of her motivating to eat. If shz seeing tv her fav shows I can push litl otherwis she vil vomit.also she vil behav as though food is stuk in the throat. Pl dr suggest me how to go about.am from Bangalore where is ur clinic located here so that I can visit your place personaly
Hi my two and half year old will not eat atol. It was he would only eat chicken now he just won’t eat full stop. He used to be a great little eater but as he moved from baby food at age 1 he has been a nightmare ever since. He is perfectly healthy in every other aspect but I just can’t understand why he won’t eat. Any hell would be appreciated.