Why don't children like to eat?

Patient's question:

Patient Age: One year two months
Detailed Medical Condition and Purpose of Consultation: Very active, never stops playing as long as he is not sleeping. Sleeps well during the day, but at night, he starts moving around in a drowsy state in the middle of the night, eventually lying on his pillow to sleep. Recently, he has been drooling a lot. He is also very reluctant to eat; as soon as he sees the spoon, he closes his mouth tightly, making it impossible to feed him even a small bite of food. He only drinks formula milk, about 200 milliliters at a time, four or five times a day. His bowel movements are very difficult every day. They were particularly dry and hard earlier, but now they are soft. I don’t know why this is happening? Could it be due to zinc deficiency in the body? Which type of zinc is better? Thank you.

Doctor's answer:

Hello, now, most children are only children, and an increasing number of children are experiencing psychogenic anorexia. The most important psychological factor causing children's anorexia is forcing them to eat. Some parents often have a coercive attitude when feeding their children. For example: feeding with a spoon, using methods of rewards and punishments to stimulate them to eat, with delicious food, letting them choose food freely, adding snacks outside of main meals, and even while playing, forcing them to eat. Many parents worry about a decrease in appetite in children after they are 6 months old. In fact, the rate of weight gain in children can slow down with age, and their food intake will also relatively decrease with age. Trying to make children with small appetites eat more often leads to the opposite result. During forced feeding, children can normally refuse, which is a common feature from 9 months to 3 years old. Additionally, children can also develop conditioned reflexive refusal to eat. Every time they are given food, they associate it with forced measures and punishment, making them feel unpleasant and causing psychological stimulation, leading to anorexia. The condition of the child's bowel movements indicates constipation. As long as the child's diet is properly regulated, it can be improved.