Concerned about Grandson’s diet

"Food is for fun until they are one" was my health visitor's favourite saying. Nutrition is mainly milk before that, food/textures are for exploring not nutrition. He is enjoying it which is age appropriate

He will go through many food fads as a preschooler.

His physician is happy so what's the problem?

he aint no pre-schooler at 9yrs

I knew a child who would only eat cauliflower and chocolate. Doc said it was a perfect diet! - which it probably is.

he aint no pre-schooler at 9yrs
Didnt say he was. Yet.

He only eats, Doritos, Peanuts, Peanut Butter on bread that has to be trimmed and toasted, French Fries, certain types of potato chips or Chocolates.

That is a LOT more texture than many 9mth olds will yet tolerate.

Some still won't eat anything but puree!

He's doing fine

OP SAID HE IS NINE YEARS OLD NOT NINE MONTHS

The OP says he's nine years old.

Ahh

He is Nine Years Old

It does seem a very poor and limited diet, but as other grans here will probably say, there’s little you can do about it since his parents think it’s OK. To reassure you, I’ve known a few children who would only eat a limited range of food, and they turned out fine. I think it’s unlikely to be an eating disorder.
It is a social issue though, especially if he brings his own food to family gatherings, but when he’s older, peer pressure from friends may make him try a wider range of food.

That’s a good point. As he gets older peer pressure could certainly play a role in his diet. I am sure he won’t want to take his lunch box to the Pizza Place.

His current diet has the basic nutrients - protein and fat from peanut butter, carbs from bread and potatoes. Bread is enriched with B vitamins and potatoes have vit C.

Why not get him to help you cook delicious items from scratch with you.

You could start with peanut butter cookies. www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/peanut-butter-cookies/6aa18699-bad1-442a-97bf-388003acce2d.

Possibly then add a handful of sultanas or other dry fruit or bread pudding. www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/old-fashioned-bread-pudding/790f3338-59c6-4312-a3c1-3e4d0cf6b101

Looks like the Betty Crocker site has a lot of good recipes. By taking what he does eat as the basis and getting him to handle, sniff and mix (with his hands (clean)) ingredients he doesnt eat and combining them with foods he does, may encourage him to eat more

.......and there is nothing more moreish than the smell of fresh biscuits or a cake cooking in the oven.

That might work but if he saw me put an egg in something that would end the baking with Grandmama.
He doesn’t like to smell food either. I have seen him become nauseous when exposed to some of the food smells that he doesn’t eat. He becomes nauseated at the smell of bacon for example

My eldest son ate everything until he was 2 then decided food was gross other than bread and butter and occasionally marmite, my mum said to me don't make a battle of meal times so we let him have what he wanted, he's a strapping 29 year old now but spent years mainly eating bread and butter, he laughs now as that would be the last thing he would eat! ?

I'm not sure there is much that can be done. My late father had a friend who had eaten sausages, mash and gravy for dinner every day of his life and he was about 70 - he would eat nothing else. Dad and his lady friend were overjoyed when he ate chicken for the first time at Dad's house - but only the once ?
I know what you mean though - my nephew ate everything until he was almost 2 then scaled back to just hula hoops and bacon, maybe a tiny piece of frankfurter sometimes. He is a teenager now and eats normally I think.
DGS eats everything at nursery but pretty much just olives, garlic bread and Pom bears at home - plus Hovis Granary crusts with no butter. He eats the free banana in Tesco though. He drinks loads of milk so we are just assuming he'll grow out of it. He's a healthy bright boy but you can't force someone to eat.
I remember my old Nan telling me she took my mum to the doctor because she didn't eat back in the forties and he just said 'no healthy child ever starved itself to death' which she didn't find very helpful - hence her telling me about it when I was a child. Obviously these things have always gone on. I wish I knew the answer as I look after DGS while his parents work and it was much easier when you could cook something and he ate it instead of saying 'no, no, no' and locking his lips together ?

It is possible that he may have a sensory processing disorder or other issues. These can make it difficult for him to handle certain textures.

I used to invite my Sunday School class to tea and one boy had a similar sort of diet - he mostly lived on crisps and chocolates. His parents allowed it and his gran (who brought him to SS) worried herself sick as he was always getting colds and other minor ailments like styes on his eyelids. Gran confided in me that her grandson wanted to come to tea, but only if he could bring his own food. I talked to the boy and said he was welcome to come, but in my house people ate the food I gave them. He always came, he always ate whatever was served up (I gave him smaller portions than the others) - and then immediately reverted to eating his very limited diet everywhere else.

He had been an only child and then his parents adopted his younger sister and he was so besotted with her that I think he simply 'forgot' to be fussy about his food after that.

Adoption might be a bit of a drastic way of dealing with the problem though.

He has an older sister but he is Spoiled rotten

My DD went to school with a little boy who had a very limited diet too. His mum didn't allow him to stay for tea at anyone's house because she didn't want others to have to cater to his tastes.
He grew up fine and tall.

My son as a child would eat no fruit, no vegetables, no dairy apart from milk I used to worry very much He would eat meat and other than that bowls and bowls of cereal Now he is 48 he does Ironman, triathalons and marathons after a test a little while ago he was told his organs were that of a 28 year old
His best friend ate simply fish fingers breakfast dinner and tea for as long as I can remember when he came for sleepovers I had to do a couple of fishfingers for breakfast and a bowl of Frosties for my son The friend is also a married man with children
It all seems to sort itself out my son still doesn’t eat much apart from meat potatoes and a bit of carrot or sweetcorn I laughed when his wife rang me up to tell me he had tried a bit of sweetcorn

Oh Agnurse please don’t find a syndrome for him

Years ago I knew someone whose son only ate Readybrek and chocolate - he was in his 20s and still lived on that diet. He seemed fine.

I wonder if 'baby-led weaning' could lead to problems if babies are not encouraged to try different tastes and textures and only eat what they prefer?

DGS is a good eater but will not eat in public. Will happily sit at the table all through a meal either in friends houses, his own or mine with visitors and eat perhaps one piece of bread.
We don't get worked up about it.
In Church last Sunday there was a lunch after the service.
We sat with friends, one of whom brought two plates of chicken and noodles for DGS and his little girl.
We all sat in silence while DGS ate everything on the plate, we were frightened to say anything in case he realised what he was doing..
When we got home he never even mentioned it.

Amethyst not in our case I was around long before baby led anything my son ate the same as his sisters until aged 2 then decided himself what he would and wouldn’t eat and so it continued