nausea and urging at sight of certain food

[Nanny53]

My 4 year old grandson refuses most food and has been this way since about 18 months of age. Up to that point in his life, he enjoyed porridge, toast, rice, meat, soups & stews and all fruits and veggies.  When his mother became pregnant on her second child (and was hospitalized with hyperemesis), he witnessed her extreme vomiting whenever she attempted to feed him and he developed the same behavior.  Thus began his aversion to food!  Do you think this could've had some kind of psychological effect on him??  When we put food in front of him, he holds his hand over his nose and mouth while he urges and sometimes vomits. He refuses porridge, vegetables, meats and most things we all enjoy as a family. He is affected by food texture as well as taste.  He only began to eat some toasted bread within the last few months but those are very rare occasions. He has even stopped eating fruit. His diet consists of cucumber slices, yogurt, spaghetti (or any pasta) with olive oil (no tomato sauce), an occasional slice of toast, some nuts or peanut butter on times, hot chocolate and water or ginger ale for drink.  He won't even eat junk food like McDonald's!!  No hamburgers, hotdogs or fries for him!! He will partake of a meal at a Pakistani restaurant which consists of chicken, rice, lentils, broccoli, and slightly spicy sauce.  We continue to buy this regularly but have noticed his appetite for this is also waning gradually.  We have tried to copy the same style of preparing his food at home but he refuses to eat it.  For breakfast today, he ate one half slice of toast with hot chocolate. Most days he refuses to eat until about noon when he asks for pasta. . For the past 6 days he has been experiencing vomiting, diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain, fatigue & mustard-colored stool.  He is drinking water but otherwise refuses to eat solid foods. In the past we requested a referral to a pediatrician about his eating habits and weight problem.  But both his family physician and pediatrician feel it's a stage he will eventually out-grow.  He is of mixed race (African mother),is 35 pounds,tall and skinny. Please advise.

[selmaS]

Hi, well it does sound like celiacs...my nephwe has it and he also avoids certain foods...he is a freshman in college and is short for his age...was always underweight....he doew weight lifting and drinks something to help him gain weight...some kind of protein shake.

I pray all goes well

"selma"

[Nanny53]

He was breastfed for a year but was introduced to solid foods at about 5-6 months of age. He is looking emaciated to me, which I expressed to the doctors, but they don't seem to be too alarmed at his thin appearance.  He is quite smart and has a very good vocabulary. We took him to the pediatric emergency yesterday and insisted on some blood tests.  The doctors there were focusing on celiac disease as a possibility but the results of the tests aren't known yet.  Hopefully we will  have some answers in the next week or so.  He has improved a little today from the stomach bug but continues to have issues with food in general.
Nanny53

[selmaS]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I am so sorry your grandson is having these issues.
May I ask at what age was solid food introduced? How is his speach and verbal skills?

Has he been losing weight? Does he look amaciated? You mentioned his weight, but not his height, so not sure about the porportions.

Since we are not drs here, we can offer suggestions from experience and we can offer support.If u would like to ask a dr try our expert forum.

Please keep us posted on his progress.
"selma"