Covid could be turning kids into ‘fussy eaters’ due to loss of smell

Children who have recovered from Covid-19 may experience a distorted sense of smell afterwards which could affect the foods they will eat, according to experts in the U.K.

“Parosmia” — when people experience strange and often unpleasant smell distortions — is relatively common after a Covid infection, with 250,000 adults in the U.K. estimated to have suffered parosmia as a result of having the coronavirus.

Experts say it could be a reason why children who have recovered from Covid might find it hard to eat foods they once loved.

Instead of smelling a lemon, for example, someone suffering from parosmia may smell rotting cabbage, or chocolate may smell like gasoline.

Leading U.K. smell expert Carl Philpott, a professor at the University of East Anglia’s Norwich Medical School, and charity Fifth Sense released guidance on Tuesday to help parents and healthcare professionals better recognize the disorder and distinguish it from “fussy eating.”

“Parosmia is thought to be a product of having less smell receptors working which leads to only being able to pick up some of the components of a smell mixture,'” Philpott commented Tuesday.

“We know that an estimated 250,000 adults in the U.K. have suffered parosmia as a result of a Covid infection but in the last few months, particularly since Covid started sweeping through classrooms last September, we’ve become more and more aware that it’s affecting children too.”

He added: “In many cases the condition is putting children off their food, and many may be finding it difficult to eat at all.”

Philpot noted that the condition hadn’t really been recognized by medical professionals until now, with many assuming that children were being difficult eaters without realizing there is an underlying problem.

“For some children – and particularly those who already had issues with food, or with other conditions such as autism – it can be really difficult. I expect there are a lot of parents at their wits end and really worried,” he said.

Fifth Sense Chairman and founder Duncan Boak said the charity had received anecdotal evidence from parents that children are “really struggling” with their food after Covid.

“We’ve heard from some parents whose children are suffering nutritional problems and have lost weight, but doctors have put this down to just fussy eating.  We’re really keen to share more information on this issue with the healthcare profession so they’re aware that there is a wider problem here,” Boak said.