The 5 Hidden Reasons Your Child Struggles With Food
Podcast with Christine Miroddi Yoder
Aired May 5, 2025
Hi, I'm Christine — speech-language pathologist, feeding therapist, and founder of Foodology Feeding. I help parents transform mealtimes from stressful to joyful by helping their kids become adventurous eaters. And yes, it is possible — even if it doesn’t feel like it right now.
Today’s episode dives into five hidden reasons your child might be struggling with food. These often go overlooked — even by professionals — so understanding them is the first step toward lasting change.
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Reason #1: Sensory Sensitivities
Sensory issues are one of the most common underlying factors in picky eating. These may involve:
* Texture sensitivities (e.g., only eating crunchy or pureed foods)
* Visual overload (e.g., gagging at the sight of certain foods)
* Auditory sensitivity (e.g., disliking the crunching sound in their head)
Even if your child doesn’t have a formal diagnosis like Sensory Processing Disorder or autism, they may still struggle with sensory input around food. You might notice patterns — like preferring dry, crunchy snacks but avoiding anything soft or wet. These patterns reveal how your child’s nervous system is processing food experiences.
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Reason #2: Oral Motor Challenges
If your child has weak chewing muscles, undiagnosed tongue or lip ties, or jaw fatigue, they may avoid foods that are hard to manage. For example:
* They do fine with foods that require just 1–2 bites
* But they avoid tougher textures like meats or fibrous vegetables
* They might gag, spit out, or just refuse foods that require more complex chewing
Oral motor delays are often missed, and many professionals don’t know how to assess them correctly — but they’re a critical part of the puzzle.
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Reason #3: Gut Health Imbalances
Gut issues are a major but underrecognized contributor to picky eating. If your child is dealing with:
* Constipation
* Bloating
* Food intolerances or allergies
* Acid reflux or tummy pain
...then food can feel uncomfortable — or even painful — to eat.
Sometimes kids don’t act like they’re in pain simply because they’ve always felt that way and don’t know any different. But once we resolve gut issues, kids often become more open to eating and show a noticeable shift in their appetite.
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Reason #4: Anxiety or Emotional Overload
Fear of gagging, fear of vomiting, or a general sense of overwhelm can make mealtimes a source of intense stress. This anxiety can be rooted in:
* A history of pressure to eat
* Past trauma around food
* Sensory overwhelm at the table
For some kids, just entering the kitchen or seeing a plate of food is triggering. We’ve even worked with children who could only eat away from the table due to past stress.
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Reason #5: Negative Food Experiences
Sometimes the resistance comes from past experiences — being forced to “take a bite,” being punished for not finishing meals, or even choking episodes.
Even if your child was too young to remember, their nervous system remembers. These early stressors leave an imprint that can shape how they feel about food now.
The good news? We can rewire these associations by creating positive food experiences — but only when we understand the real reason behind their resistance.
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Why These Five Reasons Matter
If you don’t know what’s truly driving the picky eating, you could be trying strategies that backfire. You may even feel like you’re doing everything “right” and still not seeing progress.
That’s because most quick tips online aren’t personalized — and they won’t help if the root issue is being overlooked.
Please stop blaming yourself. And stop blaming your child. They’re not being defiant — they’re showing you something is off.
When you identify what’s really going on, everything changes.
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Want to Know Where to Start?
If you're not sure whether your child is a typical picky eater or something more, the best place to begin is with a baseline.
👉 Take the quiz at thepickyeaterstest.com
You’ll find out if your child is in the Fearful, Stuck, or Curious stage of eating — and get personalized guidance on what to do next.
Our approach is holistic, compassionate, and rooted in helping you uncover the real reasons your child is struggling — so you can start seeing real progress.
We’ll see you next week!
