Frequently Asked Questions

• A child with a feeding disorder may not do any or all of the things below:
  • Doesn’t eat or drink enough (or enough different foods to maintain growth or meet their nutrition needs)
  • Doesn’t eat how most children their age do

• Children with feeding disorders may also have problems with their development and behaviors. Feeding disorders often make it hard to participate in social activities, which increases family stress.

• Feeding disorders, such as Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, aren’t the same as eating disorders. Children with feeding disorders aren’t limited in their diet due to their weight or how they look. They don’t engage in behaviors such as negative body talk, frequent weighing, or reading food labels.

• For most children, there’s not just one thing that causes a feeding disorder. Often, it is many factors. These include:
  • Medical conditions or chronic illnesses
  • Developmental delays
  • History of bad experiences with eating such as reflux, vomiting
  • Delayed oral motor skills
  • Problems with their anatomy or physiology
  • Behavioral health problems such as anxiety
  • Parents’ emotions related to feeding
  • Problems between the child and the caregiver when feeding

• Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, some medical conditions such as reflux, heart problems, or were born premature are at risk for having a feeding disorder.

• Many parents feel shame and guilt when their child has a feeding problem. However, there is no research to suggest feeding disorders can be explained by poor parenting. In fact, many children with feeding problems have brothers and sisters who eat well. Your child’s feeding problem isn’t your fault. However, you play one of the most important roles in helping improve their eating.

• Feeding disorders are best diagnosed by a team of professionals including doctors, occupational therapists, speech therapists, clinical dietitians, and pediatric psychologists. These people should all have special training in feeding disorders in children.

• Your child may have a feeding disorder if they have one or more of the following:
  • Has trouble eating, chewing, and swallowing. This includes choking, gagging, coughing, holding food in their cheek pockets, spitting food out, mashing or sucking on food, or struggling with certain textures
  • Has trouble gaining weight because they don’t eat enough
  • Needs supplements (e.g., Pediasure®) in order to grow
  • Gets enteral feeds (e.g., NG tube, G-tube)
  • Is a selective eater, extreme “picky eater.” This includes refusing to try new foods or certain types of foods and/or picky about flavors, brands, texture in a way that limits their diet
  • Throws tantrums at mealtime. Has more stress at meals than non-mealtimes
  • Won’t drink or eat from age-appropriate supplies. For example, a school-age child drinking from baby bottle or sippy cup
  • Has a sudden and large decrease in eating/drinking after a certain event such as choking, surgery

• Picky eating is common. Children often go through phases of picky eating as they learn and explore food. The most common age for picky eating is ages 2 to 5 years old. You may notice this is the same time children enter the “no!” stage.
  • It can take about 15 times of trying a new food before your child will accept it. However, most parents only try 3 to 5 times before deciding their child does not like a food.
• Many mild picky eaters outgrow picky eating or expand their food choices for different reasons. These can include going to school or social events, changes in family routine or structure. However, some children, even mild picky eaters, are picky throughout their childhood. Sometimes even mild picky eating can snowball into more serious eating problems and difficult parent-child interactions.
  • There are many ways to improve eating and prevent future problems. If you have questions about your child’s mild picky eating or interest in learning how to better support your child with eating, call your child’s health care provider or doctor.
• A child with a feeding disorder, as related to selective eating or extreme picky eating, is much less likely to overcome these challenges without help from feeding specialists. This disorder can become worse over time without treatment. If you are concerned your child is an extreme picky eater, ask for professional help.

Every child has unique nutrition needs. Typically, nutrition needs are estimated based on your child’s growth. We would expect kids to eat or drink enough to support their own unique growth trends.

If you are concerned with your child’s growth and/or eating, please reach out to a health care provider, doctor or dietitian.

An evaluation, including team members from many health care areas, will assess your child’s oral motor skills, nutrition status, and meal-time behaviors. The team will offer treatment options. They may suggest your child for the Intensive Feeding Track, co-treatment program, or outpatient services. You must have a doctor referral to get on the waitlist.

If your child does not meet guidelines for a team evaluation, they may be referred to Speech Pathology, Occupational Therapy, or Pediatric Psychology for a feeding evaluation.

• Telehealth services depend on:

  • How often your child needs to be seen
  • How severe their diagnosis is
  • Which providers they see

The first evaluation may need to be done in person to assess your child’s oral motor skills and feeding behaviors. After that, your provider will help decide if telehealth is right for your child. 

Patients must have a physician referral. Contact your Primary Care doctor to have a referral faxed, along with a copy of your child’s growth chart and last office visit notes, to (614) 355-8694.

Once we receive the referral, we will mail you a packet of paperwork. Please complete and mail or email this information to our clinic as soon as possible. You will be notified once your intake paperwork has been reviewed.

After the paperwork is received, we will call to schedule your child’s evaluation.

Our program has a very high success rate at meeting treatment goals.. We work with families to set goals that would make a difference in your child’s and family’s life. The family and child work hard with the support of their team!

Parents observe meals and have hands-on training and coaching with oral motor exercises, feeding techniques, behavior management, and meal preparation.

Goals vary by each child’s unique set of skills and needs. Some examples of goals include:

• Increasing the amount of oral intake
• Decreasing the need for enteral feeding or supplements
• Improving chewing skills and accepting different textures
• Increasing variety of foods
• Increasing independence with meals
• Decreasing challenging mealtime behaviors, anxiety, and food refusal

If your child is on tube feedings, they may not be fully off of the tube when the program is over. You will leave with a detailed plan to continue supporting their progress at home. We want parents/caregivers to feel empowered to help their child make ongoing improvement after they leave our program. 

Over 90% of our families report an increase in confidence managing their child’s feeding going forward at the end of the intensive program!

Siblings are not allowed during the program due to safety and lack of space in our facility. Exceptions may be made during caregiver training if a sibling is involved in mealtimes.

We love to have siblings and other family members come to celebrate on your child’s final day of the program! Our social worker has resources to help your child’s sibling(s) get to know the feeding clinic better and understand what you and your child are doing all day for several weeks!

Due to the time commitment and how hard your child will be working on eating, children are not able to attend school while in the program.

We can provide letters for the school and parents’ employers confirming the time spent in our program. We know school is where your child spends a large part of their day. We do our best to work with your child’s school or daycare to complete training on your child’s feeding plan. Our goal is for your child to have a smooth transition back to school.

You can think of the intensive program as your child’s “job” for several weeks. We suggest you stop outside therapies during this time. This will help your child focus and be the most successful on feeding therapy meals.

Our research shows children grow in a variety of areas during their stay in the intensive program, even when pausing outside therapies! Parents are encouraged to discuss scheduling with their care team if interested in continuing any outside therapies. 

Families do not have to stay in the clinic in between meals and other program meetings, but we aim to provide families with a comfortable space to relax. Each family has their own private room with a bed, chair, and TV. Pack n’ Plays are available if needed. You and your child have access to the family lounge which includes toys, movies, and planned fun activities like arts and crafts. It also has a kitchen for parents to prepare and store their own lunches and make coffee. 

Accommodations include:

• Wi-Fi
• Microwave
• Coffee maker
• Refrigerator
• Sleep room with bed and chair

Some families spend time between meals and other program activities at nearby parks and libraries. The team’s social worker and child developmental specialist can help you find things to do. During scheduled on-site meetings for caregivers, the child development specialist will spend time with your child engaging them in developmentally appropriate activities. 

For families who live too far to drive to Columbus each day, our social worker can help you make plans to stay overnight at the Ronald McDonald House. This is less than a mile from our clinic.

It is important for patients and families to attend on a regular basis. We understand that things come up, such as illness. Children may have conflicts during their stay, like other medical appointments. We will work with you if your child needs to miss a meal or day for these reasons. We do our best to make sure you and your child get the most out of your time in the program. We ask you to talk with your team about schedule conflicts so they know and can plan with you.

Many insurances cover our program. We work with your insurance company if prior authorization is needed or if they allow a predetermination for medical necessity to cover the program’s cost.

You will bring food and drinks on the first day so your team can watch how your child eats. This is called baseline meal observation. After that, your child’s food and drink for oral meals and tube feedings will be provided during the program. Our chef uses special recipes to help with tube weaning, nutrition, and growth. Exceptions are made for religious reasons or allergies.

Your child will have many follow-up visits to watch and support their progress when they go home.

You will meet with your child’s team feeding therapist and/or psychologist 2 and 4 weeks after you leave the program. These visits support the transition home and solve challenges that come up with your child’s feeding plan. After these two meetings, follow-ups will be scheduled as needed.

Medical follow-up visits are scheduled at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year after the intensive program. You may also meet with a dietitian during these appointments. These follow-ups address any new or ongoing medical concerns, make suggestions about your child’s nutrition, and can be scheduled more often if needed.

If your child has ongoing feeding needs after finishing the program, your team will work together to connect you to the best services for your child's continued progress.