Rumination Disorder: Mental Health & Nutrition Disorder in Mentally Retarded Children

For children who suffer from complications of mental retardation, there is, not doubt, a lifetime of complications to be expected. For some children, the complications involving food consumption and absorption which often result in limited interaction in social settings due to the presence of the most obvious of complications.

One such complication, known as Rumination disorder, is associated with children who exhibit symptoms of deliberate swallowing of food, regurgitating the food back into the mouth, chewing it again and the re-swallowing it. The process by which food is ruminated usually involves placing fingers in the mouth, arching the back, or even sucking on the tongue with vigilance. Rarely is the food expelled out of the mouth but, in social settings, this disorder, even without expelling, can be unpleasant for others to witness.

While most children develop Rumination disorder immediately after experiencing an illness in which vomiting may have been present, some children will simply participate in rumination for no apparent reason. This, ultimately, leaves the parents of the child in a state of confusion as to how best to approach the eating disorder.

In children with mental retardation, the complications of Rumination disorder are often apparent before the child reaches age one. As growth and development continue, rumination becomes more complex and many children learn to become experts at the process resulting in extreme frustration to parents and family members.

Rumination disorder is deliberate. This is to say, children who practice ruminating food on a regular basis can, to some extent, control their actions with proper training. The greater complication associated with Rumination disorder lies in the correct diagnosis. Because the condition often seems to be uncontrollable, pediatricians and other healthcare professionals will usually misdiagnose the complication as reflux or some other gastrointestinal complication.

Psychologists believe there is a strong connection between Rumination disorder and the lack of bonding between parent and child. Because rumination can be controlled, it may have, at once, become a practice that got attention the child was lacking. With time, the mentally retarded child has used the act of ruminating food as a way in which to capture the attention of family and friends. Therefore, to treat Rumination disorder, there may be a need for intense psychotherapy, which includes re-bonding of parent and child. In terms of nutrition, heavy meals that are difficult to ruminate are generally recommended until the behavior can be controlled.

As with any complication associated with nutrition, it is important to seek out medical attention from a healthcare provider early; this is especially true when caring for a child who is mentally delayed or mentally retarded. In doing so, you can reverse the effects of Rumination disorder, both mental and physical, and return to a somewhat normal lifestyle in which dining in public is not as much of a concern.