A mum of two who “force-fed” her young son “out of desperation” as he would “rather starve” than eat new foods until the age of two, now runs a business helping other parents after finding out her boy has a selective eating disorder. Grace Willis, 43, the founder of Happy Little Eaters, who lives with her husband, 44, whom she does not wish to name, and their nine-year-old twins, who go by their pseudonyms Theo and Lily online, found feeding her prematurely born children “stressful” as it was important that they put on weight.
At three months old, Theo refused to feed, making Grace feel “utterly hopeless” as a parent, and after meeting with a dietitian, she realised she was putting “too much pressure” on her child to eat. Theo’s aversion to food continued, often gagging whenever he tried new foods, and at age two, he was formally diagnosed with a selective eating disorder as he would not eat anything “that had a smell to it.”
Over time, Grace began implementing a more laid-back attitude to meal times, and Theo’s eating habits have improved dramatically – he is now only particularly fussy about “anything creamy”. In 2019, Grace decided that she wanted to help other parents who are going through similar struggles with their children, and launched her blog, Happy Little Eaters, which encourages “giving the child control of their hunger levels” and their food preferences.
