How long Covid can affect appetite and leave children ‘boring to eat’, according to experts

Children who have recently become “boring to eat” may be exhibiting a post-Covid disorder linked to taste and smell, experts say.

Parosmia, a condition that causes people to experience strange distortions of smell, is a well-documented side effect in adults who have had Covid-19 and part of what has become known as “long Covid”.

Now the University of East Anglia (UEA), in the United Kingdom, and the charity Fifth Sense have created a guide to recognize the phenomenon also in children.

“I imagine there are a lot of parents who are intrigued and really concerned,” said Professor Carl Philpott of UEA. “In many cases, the condition is driving children away from food, and many may be having difficulty eating anything.”

Adolescent patients

According to Philpott, parosmia is estimated to have affected 25,000 adults in the UK as a result of Covid-19. The disorder can cause people to smell an unpleasant odor from food, such as spoiled meat or chemicals.

Philpott, an otolaryngologist at the university’s medical school in Norwich, England, said he began seeing adolescent patients with parosmia for the first time in his career.

“It’s something that until now hasn’t really been recognized by medical professionals, who just think that kids are having a hard time eating, not realizing the problem behind it,” he says.

“For some children — and particularly those who already have difficulties with eating or other conditions, such as autism — it can be quite difficult.”

‘He just stopped eating’

Since catching Covid in September 2021, Malisse Kafi, 11, has found it difficult to eat or drink because everything “tastes like poop or rotten eggs”.

His mother, Dawn Kafi, from Liverpool, northern England, said the food came back and made him choke. Within two months, he was rushed to the hospital suffering from dehydration, having lost 2 kilos. “It was horrible,” she said.

“It was really hard to know what to do. We tried everything to make him eat, cook his favorite dishes, but everything made him really sick.”

Malisse was diagnosed with parosmia and given a steroid nasal spray, but that didn’t help. At the hospital, he needed to be fed through a tube.

“We had never heard of parosmia,” said Dawn Kafi. “It was heartbreaking to see him deteriorate. He stopped eating altogether.”

According to her mother, Malisse was “extremely tired and cold all the time” and had health problems. Now he gets safe food, including salmon and Dairylea (a kind of cheese).

Safe food and training

Duncan Boak of Fifth Sense, a charity for people affected by disorders of smell and taste, said he had heard of many cases of children having a hard time with their diet after contracting Covid-19.

“We’ve heard from some parents whose kids have had nutritional problems and have lost weight, but doctors say it’s just boring kids to eat,” he said. “We are very willing to share more information on this issue with the healthcare industry so that they are aware that there is a bigger problem here.”

The guide, prepared by Professor Philpott and Fifth Sense, shows how parents can help their children by keeping a diary with a list of safe foods and others that can trigger parosmia symptoms.

Children should be encouraged to try foods with a lighter taste, to see what they can eat or like, and even try to eat with a clothespin on their nose to block out flavors.

The guide also advocates a simple “smell training” technique. It consists of smelling at least four different odors twice a day for several months to help the child recover.