Picky Eating and Feeding Therapy: Thoughts From A Speech-Language Pathologist

If you are a picky eater or if you have a child who is a picky eater, and you’re wanting help with expanding your/their food repertoire, you’ve come to the right place. Picky eating is something that impacts your day-to-day life. If you are a picky eater, you likely plan out your mealtimes or social outings based on what food options are available for you. If your toddler is a picky eater, you probably worry about their nutritional intake and weight gain more than the average parent. If your teenager is a picky eater, they probably have felt the impact on various social situations surrounding food in their life with their friends, at school, etc.

First, let’s break down what might be happening.

There is no set-in-stone reason someone might develop picky eating habits. Maybe it’s the texture or color of the food that’s bothersome. Maybe it’s the flavor, or the way the food makes their stomach feel before, during, and after eating it. Maybe they had a negative experience with food early on and now they’ve developed an aversion to trying new, unknown things. Maybe there is an underlying diagnosis that impacts their experience with food intake. Whatever the root cause may be, patience surrounding food and picky eating therapy is the key ingredient. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Sometimes the term “picky” is loosely used to describe people who don't like vegetables or mushrooms or cheese. Other times, it's used to refer to people who have less than 10 preferred “safe” foods, are on a specific diet (for a variety of reasons), or those who only like specific brands or colors or sizes of foods. Regardless of where you or your child falls on the spectrum, it’s important to keep in mind that eating can (and should) be a fun, joyful experience.

 Food, for many people, is often accompanied by a social experience – dinner on a Friday night with your friends, family mealtime around the table, comparing school-lunches in the cafeteria, birthday cake to celebrate turning another year older – food leads to conversation and togetherness. Picky eating directly impacts these experiences.

Who provides feeding therapy?

Feeding therapy at Pioneer Therapy is provided by a Speech-Language Pathologist specially trained in feeding or an Occupational Therapist. You may also experience feeding therapy with both of these professionals. Here are a few things that each professional may focus on during feeding therapy:

Speech-Language Pathologist

• Oral-motor skills
• Safe swallowing
• Chewing patterns

Occupational Therapist

• Utensil use
• Feeding mechanics
• Sensory processing

Speech-Language Pathologist:

●      Oral-motor movements to support the effectiveness and safety of the swallow

●      Safe and developmentally-appropriate chewing patterns

●      Think “what happens inside the body when feeding and swallowing?”

Occupational Therapists:

●      Motor movements associated with feeding (e.g., using a utensil, bringing food to the mouth, grasp, etc.)

●      Sensory processing, sensory aversions, and managing different textures of foods

●      Think “how do interactions with the environment and the food itself impact feeding?”

Both professionals will collaborate with each other to combine their different approaches to ensure the best possible outcome for you or your child. Keep in mind, therapy looks different for every picky eater. For you, it may be specifically centered around safety of the swallow, expanding your food repertoire, or parent education to help you help your child. It may also look different each session depending on what is functional for you and your schedule on that day. Overall, feeding therapy uses a holistic approach and considers all aspects of an individual. We all have easy days and hard days - patience and grace are critical for improvement in picky eaters. We’re here to help!