Fruits and vegetables. Fish and meat. Milk and water. Coarse baked goods and dairy products.
There is a lot of advice when it comes to food for children.
But what do you do when your own child is neither physically nor mentally able to eat normally?
Ever since the age of 2, Martin has had challenges related to the taste, smell and texture of food.
The parents believe that Martin tastes many more nuances than normal people do.
Photo: Emilie Lykke / NRK
Does not express hunger
During Martin’s eight-year life the mother assumes that he has tasted about 20 different foods.
– He has never been interested in food, he has never wanted to taste things at all.
Out of consideration for the child, NRK has chosen to leave the family anonymous.
Once the mother cooked pasta with a different type of salt than they usually do, without Martin seeing it.
– Then he reacted that it tasted different, and did not want to eat.
The food served to Martin must always be prepared in the same way and can only contain the products he likes.
Photo: Emilie Lykke / NRK
Not even cakes or sweets have ever been of interest.
– He would rather go hungry than eat something he doesn’t want, says the father.
According to the parents, Martin himself has only expressed feelings of hunger a handful of times.
The fear of tasting new food is so great that Martin gets anxiety reactions and becomes very uncomfortable in situations where he is expected to eat.
– I think it is easy for others to think that he is only picky, but this is about so much more, says the mother.
In 2022 he was diagnosed with ARFID, but it would take a long time before Martin got any kind of help.
Recently recognized in Norway
The diagnosis ARFID has existed in the United States since 2013.
In Norway, it was first recognized two years ago. Here it is often referred to as selective eating disorders.
Oslo University Hospital calculates that one to five percent of all children have more serious and treatment-requiring eating difficulties.
– It can be a very demanding diagnosis, both for children and young people themselves, and for relatives. Food is, after all, a very large part of our social life, Gry tells Anette Sælid.
Loneliness, alienation and not least malnutrition are often something that people with the diagnosis experience, says Gry Anette Sælid.
Photo: Emilie Lykke / NRK
Sælid has a doctorate in psychology and runs the organization Mat og Sånn, which offers help to people struggling with strong pickiness and selective eating disorders.
As a result of the diagnosis being so new, there is still a lot of research needed to understand how and why the diagnosis occurs, says Sælid.
– Some researchers believe, for example, that it concerns innate traits, such as a particularly sensitive personality type or urinary instincts that are interpreted a bit strongly by the body.
Want to get better
The transition from nursery to school has been demanding in terms of Martin’s eating habits.
– He does not get enough calories and nutrition during a day to be able to have such a high level of activity as an eight-year-old usually has.
After Martin’s first summer holiday, he was admitted to Ullevål hospital with exhaustion.
By then he had barely eaten throughout the holiday.
– The admission was a sort of punctuation to a tough summer, says the mother.
The parents describe everyday life as a battle against the clock to get Martin enough energy.
Photo: Emilie Lykke / NRK
Martin himself has a strong desire to get better.
He wants to participate in extracurricular activities and hang out with the guys like everyone else.
– We have been sitting on the bed, and then he has drawn things that he wants to taste. So storage we one implementation plan with a reward system
– But every time we try something like that, it ends up as a huge defeat. We are unable to remove his fear of tasting things.
In his spare time, Martin likes to build legos, gaming and playing the trombone.
Photo: Emilie Lykke / NRK
– Just a walk is very demanding
Today, Martin eats around five different things:
Porridge, Nougatti, corn sticks, noodles and salt sticks.
The food he eats varies and in total he usually switches between ten different foods.
Martin’s narrow food repertoire sets limits not only for himself but also for his family.
They have rarely been able to eat in a cafe or restaurant, or have dinners with others.
– It is difficult with things that do not take place within the normal everyday routines. Just a walk can be very demanding for Martin.
This is some of the food that Martin eats. The food must be from specific producers, otherwise he tastes different and refuses to eat.
Photo: Emilie Lykke / NRK
Not enough knowledge about the diagnosis
It has been a long battle to get help.
Already when Martin was two years old, his parents sought help.
He was first sent for a series of tests to rule out everything from autism to physical illnesses.
It took four years before Martin was diagnosed with ARFID.
The diagnosis was unknown to the GP and despite referrals to specialists, no one wanted to take up Martin’s case.
– There is no standardized treatment plan for this. We experienced that we had to tell the health personnel what was wrong, says the mother.
No one had knowledge of the diagnosis.
– It felt like everyone who was actually supposed to help us just abdicated their responsibility.
The parents are worried that the diagnosis will affect Martin’s social life for the future.
Photo: Emilie Lykke / NRK
Six years after the family first sought help, Martin is now finally at the start of treatment.
– We have realized that we should be careful not to expect too much too soon. So the first sub-goal is that he eats at school, says the father, adding:
– To many, it may sound very strange that my biggest dream is for my son to eat a slice of bread, but that is our reality.
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Tags: unknown eating disorder Martin eat NRK Vestfold Telemark Local news radio
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 can only eat five things – NRK Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio){kind=link}