‘Eating only baby food turned my boy bright orange’
MUM’S ALARM OVER SON’S DIET PHOBIA
A BOY’S skin turned orange because of a food phobia which meant he only ate carrot baby food.
Harry Smith, 11, refused to eat anything other than his favourite mushy meals for nearly a decade.
But a trip to a psychologist who specialises in food phobias allowed him to eat solids for the first-time ever.
Mum Angela, 44, said: “He was eating as many as 12 jars of baby food a day and wouldn’t eat anything else.
“When he started turning orange, at first I didn’t think a lot of it – he just looked more olive-skinned.
“When he got to about four, it started becoming more prominent and I was worried he had liver failure or something.
“We then mentioned it to his paediatrician who said, ‘You eat carrot, you look like a carrot’. He explained Harry’s addiction to baby food was coming out in his skin. I was surprised, but it made sense.
“Nothing could be done to prevent it, as his diet was basically blended carrot. His skin was just orange.”
Angela said she struggled to know what to do. She insisted Harry had some kind of illness, but doctors said he was just a fussy eater.
Eventually, Angela’s cousin found London psychologist Felix Economakis on Facebook. He told Angela her son had a food phobia.
At his first therapy session – while in the room with Felix – Harry tried bread, blueberries, cheese, a microwaved ready meal and a chocolate chip cookie. It was the first time he had ever eaten solid food. Harry soon started trying foods like chicken, bread and cheese for the first time. But his Selective Eating Disorder means he still struggles with green vegetables and eggs.
Angela, of Sheffield, South Yorks, said: “Seeing him eat solids for the first time in nine years was amazing. There were so many emotions.
“It was nice to see Harry return to a normal colour. It was surprising how it happened within four weeks of stopping the baby food.”
Angela added: “Today he is able to go anywhere without the need for baby food.
“He is able to find something he wants on the menu of any restaurant we go to. It’s great being able to take him anywhere to eat.
“I’d like his diet to become more varied and healthy, but those are things that Harry is still
working on.”