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I have a child who has an eating disorder. He was beyond just not eating, he was throwing up and hiding food. He was also in danger. We had to do the thing where he had to not play if he did not eat. We told him food was fuel, like gas for the car. If he did not eat he did not have enough fuel to play. Then he would eat only a bite. I had to explain to him that the first fuel went to things like breathing and thinking and his heart beating. So he had to eat a certain amount to have some left over for play. We also had to get past the control part. Letting him choose absolutely did not work. He would ask for something and then refuse to eat it and ask for something else and then refuse to eat that. So it was totally not about what food, it was about control. I did switch his foods to all very high calorie. I used a lot of half and half in his food, boost plus to drink, etc. So that when he did eat it was high calorie. He loves fruit, but to get fruit I made him eat the high calorie food first, though usually he would then decide he did'nt want the fruit after all. Just giving him the fruit would end in his taking two bites and saying he was full. After a summer of basically force feeding him to get his weight up, I turned it back over to him. (I had done this before and he refused to eat or drink until he was very, very sick, four days later, then he was only willing to take in very little) Since then he lost two pounds, but now is able to to stay the same weight. He is not growing and soon we will have to deal with that, but for now he has broken the throwing up habit and is actually eating. (mostly at school because I am not there so he thinks I don't know about it) He is also starting to eat at home as long as I don't react. He won't eat a single bite or drink anything at home if he is mad about anything. (not getting to play his brother's video game, being made to wear a coat when it is cold, his sister going to a sleepover, etc) Anyway, for now we are letting things go. The doctors will eventually have an issue with his not gaining any weight as he has grown a little taller and still not gained anything.
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