Over the past seven years we have had a very volatile relationship with food, due to severe and life threatening food allergies. Jasmine developed food aversions and also has a lot of fear and anxiety surrounding food from outside the home, as well as a fear of eating next to other people who may be consuming one of her allergens. This is understandable after she has suffered two anaphylactic reactions and finds it hard trusting other people or places with her food.
At the early age of two years old Jasmine was able to tell staff at Nursery her allergies and as the years have passed she has become a very vigilant and responsible little girl. She double checks all food labels before she consumes anything and always double checks what is in the ingredients even if we have bought it a thousand times before, as we all know the ingredients can change on foods without prior warning.
With the vigilance and responsibility also comes great fear, panic and anxiety for Jasmine and food aversions became quite an issue for us as well as avoidance. There was a time where Jasmine wouldn't even eat her packed lunch at school, due to several previous bad experiences at her last school and she would often come home not having eaten a single thing ( the past two weeks have been amazing and she has eaten very well at school so I am hoping we have turned a massive corner).
As a family we recognise the importance of building a positive relationship with Jasmine and food because it is a scary and isolating territory for her it is so easy to just avoid everything. I encourage Jasmine to spend time with me in the kitchen, watching, helping and even cooking herself. We talk about the ingredients, where it is sourced, how it gets to our fridge and think of the journey it has been on to get here. We also talk about the nutritional value of each food and why the vitamins and minerals are important for healthy body and life and we also play about with different ingredients to create our own recipes. Jasmine enjoys cutting vegetables and mixing things together, she loves to add seasonings, herbs and spices to her dishes and loves to taste as we go along!
The past couple of years particularly during lockdown, Jasmine has a more positive approach to food at home and because she is understanding things better and making food for us she is enjoying food the way she should be. We still have a lot to work on outside the home, however I am confident that Jasmine will be able to make food for herself and not have to rely on others to keep her safe which is a valuable life skill for her and I am hopeful that her positive relationship with food will continue to grow over the years and she will out grow her food aversions.
So if you are struggling with food aversions or a fussy eater, my advice would be to get them in the kitchen and learn about food and have a go of making their own food, chances are they will love it and you will have a good starting point broaden their food choices!!
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