I have the same troubles with my son who is almost 7. He is picky, he doesn't like certain foods because of textures, he loves bread and likes to eat snack stuff a lot. Its a daily struggle. I don't really have any advice on how to help him eat or eat better but I do understand and you are not alone :)

Thanks for answering. I guess we will just have to wait and see what the doctors recommend. I will post it if they come up with any answers.

I have the same issue with my 4.5 year old daughter. Meal time is always a struggle....she won't sit long enough to eat and is a very picky eater. I often blame myself for creating this problem. She was very tiny and underweight when she was a little over a year old. I supplemented her meals with Pediasure. It got to the point that all she wanted was Pediasure....and crackers or cookies. She prefers to drink all of her meals if she can....and at times seems to have a texture issue. Whole foods has some great Protein/Veggie shakes for kids. I also got Jessica Seinfelds "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook. I have gotten very creative in adding pureed veggies in healthy desserts. I would prefer that she ate as opposed to drank her nutrition however there are times when I just want to get something healthy in her belly. Hunger tends to bring out her negative behaviors.

Look here for more help if you need http://www.defiantly.co.uk

Please look into Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder associated with strep "PANDAS." It can cause severe eating issues and ODD and is treatable. Here are some websites to get you started:
www.pandasresourcenetwork.org
www.pandasnetwork.org
www.strepmonster.com
www.pandassucks.com

My 14yr old son, who I believe has ODD, became a very picky eater a few years ago. Oddly enough, he was constantly gaining a lot of weight at the same time.

If my son likes a food, he will eat it often and lots of it. Then, he will suddenly no longer like it. I've tried working with a nutritionist but his behavior during the sessions was a little embarrassing and non-productive. Plus, he didn't do well with the suggested dietary changes. Too many changes all at once = confrontations.

My son also has IBS. So, what I try to do is find what he likes (at the moment) and give him guidelines for eating it. For example, he loves pancakes and waffles. So, I buy Nutragrain waffles. He can have 3 waffles for breakfast but he's only allowed to have syrup (the best part) twice a week. I allow him to pick his cereal but it can't have more than 12g of sugar and must have a minimum of 2g of fiber. He can only have cereal for breakfast, also. He doesn't like most fruits and he's allergic to a lot of fruits anyway. He's allowed to have canned pears but they must be in juice, not syrup.

Basically, I give him guidelines so he can make choices. I try to use the guidelines the nutritionist and gastroenterologist gave me, as well as his allergies, to set the parameters. Allowing him to make choices helps. I have 2 other children, so I can't allow my son to choose what's for dinner for everyone. He does pretty well with dinner, even if he complains all the way through it. I've learned to suck up the complaining to a degree. As long as the other kids like it, I know that dinner must be fine.

Good luck to finding what works for your situation.

To Addeline- I have a daughter that has to drink Pediasure Sidekick three times per day. That's pretty expensive. My Kroger grocery store (it's part of a larger chain of stores that may also do this) special orders large cases for me. It helps to cut the costs AND I earn fuel points toward a fuel discount.

I know it's hard having a picky eater but I can also actually be expensive, depending on what they eat. I hope this helps in one aspect, if not the other.

Our son went through eating disorder treatment last fall. He has something called Selective Eating Disorder, which is picky eating x100. He's literally afraid of most foods. He took SED to the extreme and started limiting the quantity of what he was eating and got too underweight. SED wasn't cured through treatment, but he's eating more food quantity-wise, weighs 25 lbs. more and is healthy.

There's no doubt in my mind that the SED is connected to the ADHD, OCD, ODD and other conditions he has. I view it all as one area of his brain where the plugs are out of the sockets.