School boy who only ate chocolate bars and Nutella thanks hypnotist for changing diet
A school boy who only ate chocolate and crisps has finally eaten other foods, thanks to hypnosis.
A typical meal for Rocco O’Brien, eight, from Ipswich, would involve Cadbury’s chocolate bars, Nutella spread and Pringles, washed down with a glass of Nesquik milk.
If his mum Heidi, 45, tried to give him other foods to try he would scream and be sick and the thought of trying chicken nuggets or vegetables would leave him in tears.
Heidi became so desperate for help she contacted hypnotherapist David Kilmurry who specialises in curing obsessive eating conditions.
Rocco was diagnosed with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) and underwent intensive hypnotherapy treatment.
After several two-hour sessions, his diet started expanding and he now has ten foods which he is willing to try.
"Rocco’s food 'fussiness' started as soon as we started weaning him," his mum explains.
"He was gagging on everything and was avoiding certain foods.
"He wasn’t just refusing food, he was sick with it," she continues. "We couldn’t go to restaurants, he couldn’t be in the same room as food. The smell, the look.
"I used to open his hand and put pasta in it and he’d just scream like I’d put spiders in his hand."
Heidi says her son also lives with autism and a sensory processing disorder, which means his senses are heightened and leaves him afraid to touch most food.
Having stumbled across details of ARFID, Heidi says dieticians and a psychologist agreed that was likely what was impacting her son's diet.
"His diet is chocolate spread sandwiches, coco pops, quavers, ready salted Pringles, bread sticks and bread rolls," Heidi explains.
"It just depends what he’s feeling. It could be two pots of Pringles in the morning. It could be coco pops in the evening."
Read more: Teenager with fear of food who only had hot chocolate finally recovers – what is the eating disorder 'ARFID'? (Yahoo Life UK, 8-min read)
Heidi, who runs a property management company, said it was only matter of luck that she turned to hypnotherapy to help Rocco conquer his eating issues.
"A couple of weeks ago we were camping and girl at the shop asked about Rocco because we were trying to find him something eat," she explains.
"She asked if he had ARFID and said she had it too, but was now cured after meeting David. I booked Rocco a session with him that night.
"After just two sessions he’s tried baby spinach, apple, pear. These are things he’d never try, but he likes those now."
What is Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder?
ARFID is a condition where someone avoids certain foods or types of food, restricts their intake in terms of overall amount eaten, or does both, according to the eating disorders charity Beat.
Someone may avoid or restrict food for many different reasons. The most common, however, might be that they are hyper-sensitive to the taste, texture, smell or appearance of certain types of food, or can only eat things at a specific temperature, which can lead to 'sensory-based avoidance' or 'restriction of intake', the charity explains.
They might also have had a distressing experience with food, such as choking, vomiting or suffering bad abdominal pain, which can all fuel feelings of fear, anxiety and avoidance.
Some may experience general concerns about what might happen after eating that they find hard to explain, restricting what they eat to 'safe' foods. This can lead to avoidance based on concern about the consequences of eating.
The condition can affect adults, teenagers and children, but it's important to remember that ARFID is different from anorexia, bulimia and other related conditions as someone's beliefs about their weight and shape are not part of the reason why sufferers avoid or restrict their food intake.
Read more: Teenager who mostly ate croissants for around a decade finally recovers (Yahoo Life UK, 6-min read)
Signs of avoidant restrictive food intake disorder
Again, signs of ARFID can differ, but as listed by Beat, some include:
Eating a reasonable range of foods but overall having much less food than is needed to stay healthy
Finding it difficult to recognise when you're hungry
Feeling full after only a few mouthfuls and struggling to eat more
Taking a long time over mealtimes/finding eating a ‘chore’
Missing meals completely, especially when busy with something else
Sensitivity to aspects of some foods, such as the texture, smell, or temperature
Appearing to be a 'picky eater'
Always having the same meals
Always eating something different to everyone else
Only eating food of a similar colour (e.g. beige)
Attempting to avoid social events where food would be present
Being very anxious at mealtimes, chewing food very carefully, taking small sips and bites, etc
Weight loss (or in children, not gaining weight as expected)
Read more: Three in 10 girls under 18 have an eating disorder, finds major new study (Yahoo Life UK, 3-min read)
Treatment for ARFID is not currently included in the NICE guidelines for eating disorders, but this doesn't mean it shouldn't be taken seriously or treated as valid.
Beat advises a GP should still make a referral to the relevant service, and young people may be treated by by their local community eating disorders service, generic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), community paediatric services, in the local acute paediatric service, or by a range of private practitioners.
Meanwhile, adults may be treated by specialist eating disorder services, general mental health services (especially those offering treatment for anxiety), hospital-based liaison work when the ARFID occurs in the context of a chronic medical condition, or by private practitioners.
If you're worried you or your child may have ARFID, make an appointment to talk to your GP, or speak to your family member to help encourage them to. While it may seem daunting, there is help out there.
For more information, visit Beat's website page on ARFID or see their helplines for each area of the UK.
Additional reporting SWNS.
