Experts point out that children who start to choose food may suffer from smell and taste disorders associated with Covid.
Parosmia, which is defined as a disorder of different odors and generally poor perception, is a side effect seen in adults with Covid.
However, it is possible that this situation is not noticed in children who are thought to choose food.
The University of East Anglia and the non-governmental organization Fifth Sense in England prepared a guide to help understand whether children show signs of parosmia.
‘He didn’t eat’
“I think many parents are anxious and do not know what to do,” says Professor Carl Philpott of the University of East Anglia.
Professor Philpott said: “This disorder can make children feel cold from meals, many of them even having trouble eating.”
Professor Philpott says that for the first time in his professional life, he started seeing patients with parosmia in adolescence.
“Until the underlying problem was understood, it was thought that only children chose to eat,” said Philpott, noting that it can be really difficult to diagnose, especially in some children who have food-related or other problems such as autism.
Malisse Kafi, 11, who caught Covid in September, could not eat because “everything tasted like feces and rotten eggs.”
His mother, Dawn Kafi, describes how food made her son gag and gag. The boy, who lost two kilos, was hospitalized within two months due to dehydration.
“It was so scary,” says Dawn Kafi.
The little boy was diagnosed with parosmia and was given a nasal spray. However, this did not help and had to be fed with a tube.
“We’ve never heard of parosmia before,” says Ms. Kafi. “It was so sad to watch it deteriorate, she couldn’t eat at all.”
Malisse is now able to eat certain foods, such as salmon, but his mother says that her son is constantly tired and his health problems are not over.
‘Children struggling with food’
Duncan Boak of the Fifth Sense charity, which helps those affected by smell and taste disorders, explains that after Covid, children really struggle with food.
“We’re getting information from parents of children who have malnutrition and lose weight, but doctors have linked it to just choosing food,” she says.
Boak says they want to share the information they have with healthcare professionals so that the situation can be noticed.
Professor Philpott’s guide with Fifth Sense advises parents to make a list of foods that cause discomfort and those that do not.
It is noted that by encouraging children to eat simpler foods, it can be seen which foods they do not respond to, while it is noted that odors can be blocked by attaching a soft latch to the nose while eating.
Another recommendation in the guide is to use a simple technique of sniffing at least four different scents twice a day for several months to aid healing.