Teenage Boy picky eating

riddles

Hi

teenage boy whose a picky eater - bread, pasta potatoes, nuts, vedge, fruit etc. Any guidance on starting to expand his nutrition range at the moment it’s a challenge to get protein into him and he doesn’t like dairy.

thx

Wanderer78

has he always been like this?

riddles

Probably since post 5/6 years old

Stephen_Maturin

Not too bad if he’s eating veg at least

Maybe try get more high protein beans, legumes, nuts, eggs etc into if meat’s not really a runner

Bogwoppit

It’s a very complex issue with all sorts of causes.

There’s a guy in London who helps a lot in situations like this, Felix Economakis, have a look at some of his YouTube videos on ARFID.

Wanderer78

i have autism myself, and this is a common issue with the disorder, my poor parents were driven demented, only started eating more nutritional adult food in my late teens/twenties, again common

im not really sure what else to say but only best of luck with it, i(we) obviously got through it, maybe some of the ideas above can help, theres probably some great ideas on the wider internets and on youtube, as this is probably common enough

essdee

As Stephen noted in an earlier response it is good that he is eating nuts, veggies and fruit. Your main goal seems to be to expand the range of foods that he consumes.

Picky eating can come down to variety, brand, textures, smells or presentation of food. In this case, your main concern seems to be around the absence of protein, which is important for teens, especially if they are engaged in sports.

However, protein intake requirements for teens has not been firmly established so as long as he is getting some protein, you don’t need to worry about reaching a specific target. A wide range of animal-based and plant-based protein sources of protein are available, such as the following:

Poultry, eggs, brown rice, red meat (not too frequently), wholewheat bread, beans, processed meat (better kept low because of other risks), nuts, fish, lentils, hummus, tofu, edamame. There are also dairy options but you say he doesn't like dairy.

One thing you might consider over time is to expose him to a wide variety of foods in the hope that he may come to like some more of them. It can take up to ten separate occasions of giving him small tastes of a new food before it is accepted. It isn’t helpful to bribe him or offer rewards for eating certain foods or to promote consumption of highly processed foods, which may not be good in the long term.

farmerval

Apparently up to teen years texture is more important than taste. Look at the textures of what he likes and see can you copy those into the kind of foods that you want him to try.

See how many kids will eat chicken nuggets but not chicken breasts etc. Our son is older but texture was definitely an issue with him, he never liked really soft food, always wanted something to chew on, would eat cod if it looked firm but wouldn't look at softer fish etc.