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Originally Posted by MamaS
I gave him a drawer in the refrigerator, which I keep filled with yogurt cups, applesauce cups, cheese sticks, pbj sandwich rounds, etc. He is allowed to have anything he wants from his drawer at any time (EXCEPT when we are about to get in the car). For the car we have packages of goldfish. He is slowly losing his food obsessions and can defer food if I tell him that "supper will be ready in 5 minutes".
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Yogurt,cheese sticks and applesauce are also great alternatives which I also use.
Sleepydream - the children I worked with were neglected and abused so I only have experience in that area. Considering that, yes, when children, even as very small infants, were deprived food, and/or given formula which their system could not tolerate, and/or forced to eat even when not hungry, and/or given rice cereal, adult foods, etc. before their digestive systems had developed well enough to tolerate it - then these issues tended to create food problems. Even very small infants who were not appropriately fed (and by that I mean force-fed or went hungry) could be found to have problems with food - even though they were unable to "remember".
Sometimes food would turn into a control issue where the child learned that they could use food to upset or please their parent or parent-figure and would use that to their advantage. For example, if they are angry, and they know it makes "Mom" angry when child refuses to eat - then the child may refuse to eat in order to express frustration, get attention, or make the parent (or parent-figure) angry.
But I saw this most often when a parent neglected to feed their child and the child would literally starve at times. I can't imagine what it must be like to be at the complete mercy of someone to survive, know that they have food/formula/whatever, be starving, yet not fed. The worst case I saw was where a child was eating VERY nasty things to survive.
But this is not to say that there could not be an underlying medical problem. That is why I stress so strongly getting specific medical attention in this area.
In essence, a child may feel like there is never enough food, if deprived of food early on. Or a child may use food as a control issue, or to gain attention. Children who went starving can usually be helped with CBT (such as allowing them the control over their food) - but it does take time. Parent figures can control how much "control" the child takes with food, by making it a non-issue.
This can be fairly complicated, but I have tried to answer as best I can. It is really an individual issue and needs to be treated as such.
I hope I helped a little.