Top 3 Misconceptions About Eating 


If a child is hungry, they will eat.



The body’s top priority is breathing, not eating! Eating is a close second, but cannot be completed properly if a child’s breathing is impacted. When we swallow food, our airway is briefly closed off to ensure no food enters the lungs. If a child is having difficulty breathing, has enlarged tonsils/adenoids or any other airway obstruction, it can become uncomfortable and downright scary to eat! Long term, this can create an aversion to eating.



Eating is Instinctive, not learned. 



Actually, eating is both instinctive AND learned!  During the first month of life, primitive motor reflexes (rooting, sucking, swallowing) allow children to seek out nutrition. This provides the motor practice a baby needs to learn to eat safely and with skill.  Around month 5-6, babies eating becomes a fully learned motor skill.  Also around this age, babies become more interested in handling their own food, practicing fine motor skills to pinch and grasp food, play with texture, and learn how and where to place food in their mouth for early chewing.



Eating is easy.



Eating and swallowing are complex behaviors involving volitional and reflexive activities of more than 30 nerves and muscles. They have two crucial biological features: food passage from the oral cavity to stomach and airway protection. The swallowing process is commonly divided into oral, pharyngeal, and esophageal stages according to the location of the bolus. The movement of the food in the oral cavity and to the oropharynx differs between eating solid food and drinking liquid. Plus, eating is the only task children do which requires simultaneous coordination of all 8 of our sensory systems. Eating is a LOT of work! It is not atypical for a child to need help in the skill of eating. Call SAGE to inquire about feeding therapy for your child! 

Call SAGE to inquire about feeding therapy for your child!