Feeding & Eating Difficulties — Cairo
Assessing the medical, nutritional and sensory factors behind selective eating, food refusal and feeding difficulty in children and adults.
Feeding Difficulties Often Have a Physical Side
Selective eating and food refusal usually have more than one cause: pain or reflux, how food registers for the child sensorily, a documented deficiency, or anxiety that has built up around the table. It is very rarely simple stubbornness.
Our approach combines a digestive and nutritional review with laboratory testing where it is indicated, run alongside the feeding therapy team rather than in place of it.
What We Review
- Gut microbiome and digestive function assessment
- Zinc and iron status checked, since both have a role in appetite and taste
- Sensory tolerance addressed with occupational therapy and feeding therapy
- Allergy and intolerance investigated with validated testing where the history points to it
- Targeted supplementation where restriction has produced a documented deficiency
Feeding Patterns We Address
Extreme Food Selectivity
Eating fewer than 20 foods or rejecting entire food groups or textures
Food Refusal
Consistently refusing new foods, gagging, or distress at mealtimes
Texture Sensitivity
Strong aversion to specific textures, temperatures, colors, or smells of food
Poor Appetite
Minimal interest in food, small portions, or early satiety not explained medically
Nutritional Deficiencies
Iron, zinc, vitamin D, and B12 deficiencies from restricted intake
Mealtime Anxiety
Significant distress, tantrums, or avoidance around mealtime situations
Therapies & Protocols
Gut Assessment
Investigate gut dysbiosis, constipation, and reflux driving mealtime discomfort
Nutritional Labs
Identify and correct zinc, iron, and B vitamin deficiencies affecting appetite
Sensory & Feeding Therapy
Graded work on the textures, smells and temperatures a child cannot yet tolerate, run with the occupational therapy and feeding teams.
Allergy & Intolerance Review
Validated allergy testing and a structured, time-limited elimination trial where the history points to one.
FAQ
Is selective eating behavioural or medical?
Usually both, and the point of the assessment is to separate them. Pain, reflux, sensory sensitivity and a documented deficiency all make eating harder, and each is treatable. The behavioural work at the table runs alongside that, not after it.
At what age do you see patients for feeding issues?
From toddlers (18+ months) through adults. Disordered eating habits formed in childhood often persist into adulthood with the same biological drivers.
Do you work alongside feeding therapists?
Yes — our biological protocols are designed to complement feeding therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy, not replace them.
Can a zinc deficiency affect appetite?
It can. Zinc has a role in taste perception and appetite regulation. Where a deficiency is documented we correct it — but it is one contributing factor among several, and correcting it is not by itself a treatment for selective eating.
Start Your Assessment Today
Our consultants will review the medical, nutritional and sensory picture, then set out a plan together with the feeding therapy team.
