Selective eating is quite common in children with autism. Parents need to patiently train and encourage their children, hoping they will gradually get used to a balanced diet. Here are some tips for parents to refer to:
Try to first get children accustomed to the appearance and colour of food, attracting them to touch and feel its texture. When they become familiar with the food, their willingness to eat it will naturally increase.
By giving advance notice of the food combinations for future meals, children will have ample psychological preparation, making them more receptive when they see the food.
Parents can try grocery shopping and preparing ingredients with their children, giving them more opportunities to encounter different types of food and reduce their resistance, while also treating it as parent-child time to foster their relationship.
Some parents worry that their children will refuse to eat and go hungry, so they let them eat whatever they like, such as snacks. This approach is counterproductive. Not only is eating snacks frequently unhealthy, but it also causes them to lose their appetite and become even more unwilling to eat proper meals.
