13yr old son with no appetite / interest in food

GobbledyGook

It sounds like he just has no appetite rather than being fussy. I can imagine you'd have to really, really like a food to force it down when not hungry (so understandable he'll eat things like crisps).

Is there another doctor in your practice you could see?

If his teeth and the likes are suffering then perhaps he's missing some vital vitamins, could you see about supplements?

JodyBPM

Surely at 13 he's well old enough to understand why he needs the vitamins and minerals in a balanced diet, and on that basis should be sensible enough to eat things, even that he doesn't much like, because he understands his nutritional needs.

I think you are treating him like a toddler rather than a teenager.

Stop pandering to him, and tell him how it is. Be sympathetic, offer to make him sauces/try out different recipes etc, but ultimately explain to him that for the good of his health he has to eat a balanced diet, because otherwise he will be ill. Its not a choice, its a fact.

Sometimes we all have to do things we don't want to do, real life sucks, and that's simply the way it is. Hell, I go to the gym 3x a week because its good for me, despite hating exercise with a passion.

Nicki

In your shoes I would be pushing the doctor to refer him to CAMHS for an eating disorder assessment and also to prescribe him a complex multi vitamin to ensure that he is not actually suffering from malnutrition. Thin, weak, low immunity, dental cavities and muscle wasting don't sound normal at all to me at any age, and certainly not for a child. You might also want to add in a request for a referral to a dietician or nutritionist while you are at it. Good luck.

littleredhen

I watched the 3 day nanny and liked her approach to food, don't know if you can search to see if it's still available. I would check there is nothing medically wrong then stick with this is what is for tea take it or leave it. My 15 y o has started messing about with food, it seems to be an attention thing and when I ignore her she stops! I know it's not that simple but I hope you get the idea

Mrs_Boo_Boo

If you think there is a psychological element then you could get your doctor to refer him to the children's mental health service. Sometimes food is a control thing or I have seen programmes where kids only eat 'safe' foods due to previous experiences with food as a child. Sometimes it's textures which they have previously gagged on and now won't eat because of this. I know my friend's daughter developed OCD and wouldn't eat meat incase she choked on it. Ate a lot of pizza on holiday with them once due to her difficulties. It's just another way of coping with stress. Is he stressed?
Some anti depressants will stimulate the appetite,but I'm sure you don't want to go down that route.

Wilma33

Might he have an eating disorder? Are you sure his stools are normal as I also wondered about coeliac? It's not the kind of thing a 13 year old is likely to discuss with his mum!

Seanymph

I have heard that Zinc does great things to kick start appetite - but of course you'd have to get him to take it!

Does he really eat no veggies? Sweet corn (even if it's at KFC!) usually tolerated - then peas, broccoli in that order.

I think in your shoes I'd go for quantity then worry about the quality.

I guess you could go the other way and worry - but I'd want to try and get him into the habit of an appetite

Does he eat pancakes? I made the fat ones the other day and put crunchy peanut butter into them, they were lovely served with maple syrup.

Yorkshire pudding? - with sausages and mash and gravy?

see the theme.

My daughter was picky, but she ate both of those.

pingufan

Thanks all, I'm going to take him back to the doctor on Monday, he ate half his tea (about a teaplate full) which was 3/4 of a chicken kiev and about 5 chunky chips so along with a piece of toast that will probably be the sum total of his food for the day. It's not right for a kid his age, hell he even gets chocolate for Easter and christmas and he never eats it!

peachyprice

I have a 12yo daughter who eats a pitiful amount of food, probably the portion size you would expect a toddler to have, i.e one sausage and 8 chips and a desertspoon of peas is a big meal to her. Having said that she isn't skinny now that she's reached puberty. So I do know it's possible for children to survive quite healthily on tiny amounts of food.

However, the fact that your son's teeth are suffering rings huge alarm bells, it's one of the first indications of an eating disorder. I would take him back to the doctors and ask to be referred elsewhere, something isn't right.

I also have another son with various special needs who has many food phobias, I got accused of pandering to him and being too soft by others, it's difficult for people who have children that eat normally to understand the pain and frustration a parent feels when their child would rather starve than eat what you put in front of them, so you really do have my sympathy.

I have managed to raise one child with normal eating habits though, I guess one out of three isn't too bad

McKneff

JodyBPM wrote: »

Surely at 13 he's well old enough to understand why he needs the vitamins and minerals in a balanced diet, and on that basis should be sensible enough to eat things, even that he doesn't much like, because he understands his nutritional needs.

I think you are treating him like a toddler rather than a teenager.

Stop pandering to him, and tell him how it is. Be sympathetic, offer to make him sauces/try out different recipes etc, but ultimately explain to him that for the good of his health he has to eat a balanced diet, because otherwise he will be ill. Its not a choice, its a fact.

Sometimes we all have to do things we don't want to do, real life sucks, and that's simply the way it is. Hell, I go to the gym 3x a week because its good for me, despite hating exercise with a passion.

I don't have time for a lot of input but it really is not as simple as that, you cannot bully someone into eating something that they simply do not feel like eating. I have been like this all my life, forcing yourself to eat simply means that you gag, simply that.


Try eating a Christmas Dinner, Then when you have let it settle for 10 minutes only, get someone to put another one in front of you and tell you to eat it all because its good for you. That's what it feels like.


OP, I can only agree with the posters who say he must, must take supplements. This will badly affect his later life if he doesn't, teeth dropping out is on the cards as well as osteoporosis.


Cookery school, you said he enjoyed but they will have told him what to cook, ASK him what he would like to eat, give him a couple of cookery books and let him choose. It might work, it might not, but see what he says.