Parents of a toddler who refuses to eat anything except "chocolate and jam sandwiches" have said they've tried everything to break his habit.
Two-year-old Beo Hutchinson will "rarely" eat anything nutritional, and instead will only let his parents feed him the sugary foods.
Beo has suspected autism, although has not been officially diagnosed, and his extreme selectiveness when it comes to food is a common sign of neurodiverse children, Manchester Evening News reports.
Worried dad Chris Hutchinson from Bolton has spoken out about Beo's struggles with food in a bid to raise awareness of the early signs of the condition as he publishes a book aimed at other young families facing fussy eating.
Solicitor Chris told the Manchester Evening News that getting Beo to eat fruits and veggies was a real struggle, while the youngster usually only eats jam sandwiches and chocolate-flavoured foods, with the occasional slightly healthier carb such as pasta or mashed potato.
Anything else has to be mashed to a pulp, the 37-year-old said, and anything with lumps he will spit out and refuse to eat.
This problem has often meant the tot will go a full day without eating anything – something Chris describes as a "big worry".
"There’s no consistency with him,” the dad-of-five said.
"He won’t eat anything that’s hard and has to be fed. In terms of foods he eats, it’s usually carbs, which is why I want to get protein into him.
"My wife will make plate after plate and he turns them all down. It’s a big worry.
"We’ve just got used to the fact that just because he won’t eat anything today doesn’t mean he won’t tomorrow.
"He can eat loads one day and nothing the next. His food also has to be perfectly lukewarm otherwise he will scream as though you’ve scolded him. We’re hoping with time, he will adapt and try new things."
The family have suspected for a while that Beo may have autism, although UK waiting lists for assessment currently stand at 140,000.
"He was very slow to start making any verbal communication," Chris said.
"He wasn’t making any attempt. I thought it was because he was a lockdown baby, but my wife noticed little things.
"We even had his hearing tested because he wasn’t responding. When he did start to talk, he was only putting the odd word together."
Desperate for Beo to eat protein, Chris has tried to find a book promoting the benefits of eating meat so he could read it to his son.
When he couldn’t find one, he decided to create one himself, calling it ‘Beo is hungry’.
A pro-meat book for young children to explain the benefits and source of eating meat, Beo encounters various animals from elk, beef, chicken, pork, duck and more.
"I found an illustrator online and got it finished mid-March," Chris added. "It’s early days as I’ve only had it a few weeks, it’ll just take time. Beo likes the book."
