Building a positive relationship with food and your body

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Selective Eating vs ARFID

Session 3

Strategies

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Food traffic light

This is a helpful tool to help you plan which foods you are willing to try and those you don’t feel prepared for.

Foods my parents/other people would like me to try…

Food chaining

Food chaining is a way of taking a food that you like and slowly adding subtle variations to this food until you can tolerate new ones.

This can be done in different ways and step by step.

It is important that you think about food that might be similar or get help if needed.

Some examples are in the next slide...

Food chaining

Fries to carrots

Learning to eat a new colour

French fries

Sweet potato fries - new colour

Butternut squash fries - same shape and colour

Steamed carrots - new texture

Roasted carrots - same shape and colour

Roasted butternut squash - new shape

Food chaining involves gradually and systematically diversifying the foods a person will eat.

For example:
You begin with a food that is currently accepted. You then consider what can be tolerated in relation to change i.e. colour, brand, texture or shape. You then identify a new food to try based on what can be tolerated. This new food is then introduced. This then restarts the process.

Potato chips to banana

Learning to enjoy fruit

Potato chips

Plantain chips

Banana chips

Banana

Frozen banana
slices

Freeze-dried
banana

Bread to pizza

Ways to support children in working towards goals they would like to achieve.

For example:
If you would like to eat pizza but cannot tolerate this at the moment, food chaining can support breaking this down into manageable steps.

Image credits: @Feedingpickyeaters

Chicken to fish

Learning to enjoy more protein

Favourite nuggets

Fish nuggets

Fish sticks

Baked white fish

Fried white fish

Fish patty

6 steps to eating

Visual

What does it look like?

- What colour is it?

- What size is it?

- What shape is it?

Touch

What does it feel like?

- Is it wet or dry?

- Does it feel cold or hot?

- Does it feel bumpy or rough?

Smell

What does it smell like?

- Is it a weak or strong smell?

- Is it a nice smell?

Taste

What does it taste like?

- Does it have a strong taste?

- Is it sweet or salty?

- Is it spicy?

Texture/sound

What is the texture like?
What sound does it make
in your mouth?

- Does it feel loud when you chew it?

- Is it crunchy?

- Does it get soft quickly?
You are not expected to eat the food and if you feel you can’t keep it in your mouth, it is okay to spit it out.

Swallow

Any other sensation?

- Any other sensation?

You can start by taking a small mouthful and gradually increase quantity as you feel ready to.

Exposure isn’t expected to work straight away, it takes time and repeated experiences.
Start with the foods that cause less anxiety (so at the bottom of the hierarchy/ladder).
Remember, avoidance just causes more anxiety, where as exposure reduces anxiety over time.

Exposure ladder

Food exposure

Anxiety (100%)

Starting at the bottom of the ladder, identify the foods that cause the least amount of anxiety. As you move up the ladder the foods identified should gradually become more anxiety provoking.

Other strategies

Remember change can take time! There is no right/wrong way OR specific steps to get 'there'. New foods should not be expected to be eaten straight away, sometimes it is just about exposure.