Livana: Girl who could only eat McDonald’s chicken nuggets for seven years is cured by hypnosis

CONTENT WARNING: EATING DISORDERS

A nine-year-old girl who was able to eat little else but McDonald’s chicken nuggets, has finally been able to eat other foods after a breakthrough treatment.

Livana’s parents spent years buying their daughter daily McNuggets Happy Meals because they were one of her only “safe” foods.

Her mum Kelly was left mystified when her daughter refused to try new foods when she was around 18 months old and making the transition to solids.

The girl was never able to take part in family meals, even Christmas dinners at their Coventry home.

Over the years, Livana’s dire eating routine concerned her parents.

She would usually skip breakfast, routinely have a plain cheese toasted sandwich with tomato sauce for lunch, and insist on McDonald’s for dinner, The Mirror reported.

It wasn’t until Kelly took her daughter to a cognitive behavioural hypnotherapist that she found out Livana’s eating habits were not just “fussy”.

David Kilmurry, a hypnotherapist who specialises in curing food phobias, diagnosed Livana with ARFID, avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder.

It’s a lesser known type of eating disorder which can make it extremely difficult for sufferers to eat new foods.

It can involve fears centred around the touch, taste, smell and look of food - as well as how the person might feel while eating it or after eating it.

Unlike some other eating disorders, ARFID is not characterised by a connection between food intake and body image.

Livana underwent a two hour hypnotherapy session, and afterwards she was able to eat her first ever fresh fruit, and even tried about 20 new foods.

Her mother said she couldn’t believe the results.

“She hadn’t eaten a piece of fruit in her life, I couldn’t believe it. She tried 18 fruits that day. That day she came home and ate noodles with a stir fry sauce,” Kelly said.

“I couldn’t believe it, this was after the hypnosis. We’ve had two sessions with David now. We carried on with the fruit and now she’s had her first jacket potato which she ate.”

“She now eats cereal for breakfast, pizza or toastie for lunch and vegetables in her dinner. Liv still likes McDonald’s nuggets but it’s maybe once a week. It’s such a relief.”

Mr Kilmurry said Livana had a “fabulous attitude” and that it has been “heart-warming to see her build her ability to eat normal foods”.

ARFID is frequently underdiagnosed, and can fall into three main presentation categories, which can be experienced at the same time.

The first type is “avoidant” which is where the person will avoid foods based on a sensory sensitivity.

The second is “restrictive” which is typically characterised by showing little interest in food, having low to no appetite, or being distracted during meals.

The thirds is “aversive” where an individual will refuse to eat based on a fear that they will suffer and adverse reaction to the food.

Though it is more common for children to be diagnosed with ARFID, adults can suffer from it as well. It can also be experienced concurrently with other eating disorders, this is known as ARFID Plus.

If you or someone you know struggles with an eating disorder, or disordered eating, help is available.

Butterfly National Helpline: 1800 33 4673