Childern eating disorder sign by the senses

 Visual Sense

Explanation : How food looks - is it the right shape, size, colour, texture.

Branding! Red packet instead of green could provoke stress.

Signs to watch for : Sensitive to packaging - knows if it's a different brand

through looking at packet and objects.

Struggles when food is not the same shape, e.g. cut in half

Upset when not the right colour, e.g. toast has to be a 

specific amount of brown.

Quick tips : Everything out of packaging.

Work on familiar foods and changing visual properties slightly in 

front of the child, e.g. cookie cutters in toast.

Smell Sense

Explanation : Cooking smells from kitchen

Smells of food when in child's space

Signs to watch for : Covers nose, Gags with smell, Complains about smell

Quick tips : Use napkins to cover up food bowls and have quick 'peeps'

Use positive language around smells - explain what smells are.

gradually bring food closer - start with foods well out of a child's space 

and work closer over several mealtimes.

Touch Sense

Explanation : The feel of foods on fingers and when in the mouth.

Smooth or rough, meltable or chewy, hard or soft, crunchy or squashy.

Can also be the feel of cutlery, chairs, foot stool.

Signs to watch for : Limited diet to textures – may only eat squashable food,

purees or meltable food, or crunchy hard foods.

Explores food with hands first, or refuses to touch food or get messy.

Over crams mouth to feel food

Dislikes or likes certain temperatures like ice, hot or warm food.

Pulls face with metal spoon or when cutlery is on teeth 

Quick tips : Encourage touch exploration - use a utensil to help if

child won't touch with fingers. 

Crunching and smashing foods with hands is great to learn about food.

Try plastic cutlery if metal is a problem.

Use a cushion on chair if uncomfortable touch.

Don't wipe a child's face and hands at the table if they don't like this.

Move to a sink to avoid linking unpleasant experiences to the table.

Use mirrors to see in mouth

Movement Sense

Explanation : How stable the child is when they eat. 

Sitting at the table in a chair.

Signs to watch for : Doesn't sit at table for long - eats running around.

Fidgety, legs dangling or kicking out, legs folded underneath them

Quick tips : Do a movement activity before needing to sit at the table.

Try a weighted lap pad

(can be a pillow case full of dried rice 5% plus 2lbs of a child's bodyweight)

Ensure feet are supported - theraband can be fun

between chair legs for fiddly feet.

Wobble cushions or sitting on gym balls can be helpful for fidgety children,

 but only use these with children with good core muscle strength 

otherwise the balance challenge will be too distracting from eating.

Sound Sense

Explanation :  Sounds of foods in our heads when we eat. 

Sounds of others eating. Sounds in the environment. 

Sound of cutlery on plates.

Signs to watch for : Covering ears, cringing with noises

Becoming irritated or distracted by background noises or others eating

Not eating crunchy food or trying to eat them slowly and softly.

Disliking eating in the canteen or hall at school.

Quick tips : Ear defenders can be helpful for children who need to

eat somewhere noisy as a one off, but not as a long term strategy. 

They can help in school or restaurants.

Background music can help cover up some less preferred sounds.

Being able to eat in quieter places, e.g. a classroom or 

smaller space than a big hall.

Soft furnishings absorb noise so if a room is particularly echoey

pillows and rugs can help the noise.

Taste Sense

Explanation : The flavour of foods, whether it is salty, spicy, sweet, sour,

bitter or umami (savoury flavour).

Signs to watch for : Spitting food out after trying it / Wiping tongue

Drinking to 'take the taste away'

Only objecting to food once it is in their mouth on their tongue.

Covering everything in the same sauce, e.g. ketchup so

everything tastes the same

Not being interested in food unless it has a big flavour

Quick tips : If an aversion to food happens before it has been tried, 

it is not related to taste

Tasting things can be a very gradual process of touching a food then 

licking a finger to get the flavour, getting flavour on lip and tasting, 

or licking the food.

Flavours can be changed by using sauces and flavourings chilli sauce 

can make things more exciting if children want 'big flavours' and 

aren't so interested in blander foods. Equally, ketchup can be a helpful

reassurance if children are struggling to try new food.

Dipping and licking can be a good way to try new

flavours without the pressure to eat.

Allowing your child to spit something out - having a cup

or napkin for spitting food into.