How do I know if my child has a feeding disorder?

Many children with feeding disorders struggle to gain weight from eating little or no food during meals or relying on formula by bottle or through a tube.

Other children consume enough calories, but will only eat a narrow range of foods. Some often reject one or more food groups, like fruits and vegetables. Avoiding and/or restricting food intake can negatively affect a child’s physical, social and psychological wellbeing.

Science behind this:

The oral-motor aspect of eating involves how the mouth muscles function: how strong the muscles are, how well they coordinate the range of motion and how far they can move as they manipulate food in the mouth.

The oral-sensory aspect of eating involves how the mouth tissues perceive sensory information such as the taste, temperature and texture of food. Children can have problems with either part of the eating process or both; there is often overlap with feeding disorders.

Some children may be hypersensitive to oral stimuli, causing them to gag, grimace or have other strong reactions to certain types of food. Others may be hypo sensitive (in other words, under-responsive): They may not feel food in their mouths or may let it drop out of their mouths without realising it.

Some children with oral-sensory problems can have a feeding aversion to how foods feel or taste but will have no problem putting other things in their mouths.

Children with general oral aversions will gag or vomit in response to anything in their mouths.

Feeding disorders are often multifaceted and thus require an interdisciplinary approach from paediatric feeding specialists who can treat the physical and behavioural aspects of the problem.

A child with an oral-motor disorder has trouble controlling her lips, tongue, and jaw muscles, which makes mouth skills — from talking to eating to sipping from a straw — tough to master.

While these are physical issues, there are also speech-motor disorders.

Oral motor therapy works on the oral skills necessary for proper speech and feeding development.

Coordinated care from specialized providers

Staff members evaluate the factors contributing to feeding problems, develop individualized treatment plans, train caregivers to implement procedures and provide long-term follow-up care. An integrated approach using the Principles of NDT, SI and OPT are used to establish normal feeding Patterns, Speech and Articulation.

These skills include: awareness, strength, coordination, movement, and endurance of the lips, cheeks, tongue, and jaw.

The most complete and efficient treatment involves a team of specialists, including:

Occupational therapists who focus on reducing hypersensitivity to gagging or textures while building skills related to chewing and self-feeding

Behavioural therapist who use behavior analysis or related techniques to design a structure to help children and parents during mealtimes

Nutritionists who ensure children are getting balanced nutrition, guiding adjustments to supplemental tube feedings or feeding formulas.