Apparently, I have an disorder…..

So, you may not be aware, but there’s a movement taking place. I know I’ve mentioned several times that after years of thinking I was the only one who ate like I do I came across the Picky Eating Adult website. I can’t tell you how much of a relief it was to know that there were other picky eaters out there living lives very similar to mine. I thought I would just find support, maybe even a few ideas on how to try new foods, but there was so much more going on. A movement…..a movement to gain acceptance, a movement to help the next generation, a movement to convince someone out there that all this finickiness isn’t just stubborness but the inborn nature of people all over the world. It’s nature vs nurture. The world insists that picky eaters are adults with issues, picky eaters insist they were born this way and why can’t they just be accepted as they are. I’ve even heard folks tell me to get some help but what help is there out there? None. I’ve seen countless nutritionists who say that as long as I’m healthy I’m fine. I’ve even talked to mental health professionals who simply say I seem to be handling things just fine. But what about my kids? Sure, I’ve had years to come to terms with the fact that I have a “quirk” that haunts me socially, that affects where I work, where I travel, if I’ll go on a mission, who I’ll date, who' I’ll marry, how the lady at the grocery store check out will look at me, how my kids will grow, and a billion other things. It’s the topic at every meal table I sit at that is not my own….well, and actually quite often at my own as well. It’s exhausting. But someone wants to do something about it. Duke has opened a picky eating clinic in their eating disorder clinic. “Funny thing” is that because no one else is considering that it might be some sort of disorder there’s no medical code for it and you can’t actually get in!! But this clinic is so different from anything else out there. They offer treatment and support. That may not matter for an adult like me who’s come to terms with their craziness, but for a child who is eventually going to be that next picky eating adult, it could mean a world of difference. I don’t want my kids to deal with the social anxieties I have. I want them to have help if it exists.

People think that everyone just wants a diagnosis so they can have a label and a doctors note to throw out at the table when mom dishes up steamed broccoli but it’s not that. No one’s ever acknowledged that maybe some people were really born this way and so no one’s ever considered that there could be signs to let parents know which kind of kid they have on their hands, picky for a month or picky for life. If you knew in advance, would it change the way you treated your children’s aversions? What if you realized that YOUR kid really did think everything you put before them tasted just like cardboard or mud. What if you realized YOUR child’s body had the natural aversion to all of these foods and that they really would throw up if they had to eat them so as a natural in born defense they were avoiding them. You wouldn’t force pollen on a person with asthma convinced it would get them over it, would you? You may think that’s a dramatic analogy but to a picky eater, that’s how it feels. When people’s eyes don’t work you don’t try to force them to see, or try to convince the deaf that if they would only TRY hearing they’d find it a wonderful alternative to their stubborn non hearing ways. So, why do you ask someone who’s tongue doesn’t work to MAKE it work. Sorry, just doesn’t happen that way.

Anyway, my point is, people ARE starting to take note. Did you know that TLC is piloting a show on picky eaters in CA? They started filming this week. The Wall Street Journal just did a story and now medical journals and papers and picking up stories left and right. There’s a possibility that I might be driving to DC in the coming weeks to interview with NPR and I also have an possible interview set up for an article in Psychology Today. Crazy, huh? Yeah, so maybe now I’ll have to be labeled as having an eating disorder but I’m okay with that if it means I can get my kids into a clinic that, even if it doesn’t convince them to like spinach, it may help them deal socially and mentally with how life is going to be for them. I like that idea.

Here’s an article that came out this month about the whole thing.

Fussy eaters could be classed as having an eating disorder

By Daniel Bates
Last updated at 6:50 PM on 9th July 2010

They are the nightmare guests at dinner parties. But picky eaters have no control over what they like and could be suffering from an eating disorder, according to psychologists.

US researchers are considering giving picky eaters an official classification for the first time and plan to put them in the same bracket as those who have anorexia and bulimia.

Being a picky eater is commonly seen as a childhood phase. However, the behaviour can extend into adulthood

Being a picky eater does not carry the same health risks as conditions like bulimia but doctors worry that over the long term it could lead to nutritional deficiencies and cause bone and heart problems.

To reflect the concerns, members of the American Psychological Association plan to label them ‘selective eaters’ and put them in the ‘not otherwise specified’ category of eating disorders.

They will make their decision for the next edition of the respected Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Although considered by many to be a phase that children go though, thousands of adults are picky eaters and place strict limits on what goes into their mouths.

Research into the reasons why has been inconclusive although it is thought textures and smell could account for it.

Scientists have also speculated that a mild form of obsessive-compulsive disorder may play a part.

In the US, such is the level of interest that researchers at Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh have just started the first national public registry of picky eating which will allow people to log in and report on their unusual eating preferences and habits.

Typical of those affected by ‘selective eating’ is Bob Krause, 63, who runs an online support site called PickyEatingAdults.com that has 1,400 active members.

Mr Krause, who lives in Virginia Beach in Virginia, considered himself a ‘social leper’ who would not stay over at friends houses because of his eating habits.

Even now he will not go to someone's house before 7:30 pm in order to avoid any chance of being invited to eat dinner.

Other picky eaters frequently report problems with ready-made food such as sandwiches which contain mayonnaise but do not put it on the labelling, or have to ask that food in restaurants be cooked a certain way.

Picky eaters tend to gravitate to certain foods, including blander products that are often white or pale colored, like plain pasta or cheese pizza.

For reasons that aren't clear, almost all adult picky eaters like French fries and often chicken fingers, health experts say.

Frances Burrows, of British eating disorder charity Beat, said they regularly received calls from parents and adults about picky eating.

He said: ‘It tips over into a disorder when it becomes a problem to do with body image and how an individual perceives themselves.

‘One of the symptoms of anorexia nervosa is that a person has abnormal expectations of their body weight, for example.

‘Conditions such as anorexia develop due to very specific reasons whilst selective eating is usually something that people go through as a child, so there is something of a difference to picky eating.

'We get a lot of parents ringing up asking if there is something wrong with their child if they are only eating certain foods, and if you are in any doubt, it is best to seek advice.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1293356/Fussy-eaters-classed-having-eating-disorder.html#ixzz0uPkVsnm4

Okay, so if you actually read all of that, I’ll let you in on my funny thought. If we get a medical classification that means we’ll have rights like those with other medical conditions, right?? I mean, people get out of crimes for medical conditions, there are anti discrimination laws for people with medical conditions, they even get the best parking spaces, right?? So, I’m thinking about future laws that ban you from making fun of me at the table and that force you to have a safe alternative at every meal. Every restaurant and cafeteria will have to have a picky eaters menu with French fries and chicken fingers and they won’t be allowed to make a face at you when you order. Even better…ALL food will be made plain and you’ll have to ASK if you want something ON it!! MUAHAHAHAHA!!! I can see it now! Today the dinner table, tomorrow THE WORLD!!!!!

Okay, I’m done.