Arlo Powncenby has had the same three meals a day since he was two years old
A lad who had been hooked on Shreddies and McDonald’s chicken nuggets for seven years has finally overcome his addiction, thanks to hypnosis. Nine-year-old Arlo Powncenby would stubbornly refuse to try new foods and has been eating the same three meals since he was two.
Arlo’s daily menu included Shreddies for breakfast, pancakes for lunch and a nine-piece McDonald’s chicken nugget box for dinner. His mum Steff, 37, revealed that she used to receive strange looks from other shoppers as she bulk bought dozens of boxes of Shreddies each week.
The mother-of-four, from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, said: “It started when he was about two. He’s got autism and it was like he just stopped wanting to eat normal food.
“Since he was about three he would have the same diet, mainly the same foods. He’d have Shreddies for breakfast, then dried cereal and a pancake for lunch, then dinner was the same branded cheese pizza or McDonald’s nuggets.
“It’s really tricky. When we’d go on holiday we had to make sure we’re near a McDonald’s and have a cooker in the hotel. He never used to eat out with us so it was tricky. Whenever we saw family and friends I’d have to take food with me.
“He just wouldn’t eat new foods, he would point-blank refuse. We tried everything. The paediatrician that he was under told us it takes 15 times for the palate to get used to new foods. But he used to smell it, nine times out of ten he wouldn’t try it.
“He has a huge bowl of Shreddies in the morning and it has to be the actual brand. He’s very brand orientated, one time we ran out on holiday and he point blank refused to eat breakfast for two days.
“Even with chicken nuggets and chips, he’d know. We couldn’t cook them at home.
“Then his cheese pizza, they discontinued it. He could tell just by looking at it and smelling it that it wasn’t the same one.
“Because of the protein in the chicken nuggets that was all the protein he was getting. On average he has McDonald’s three times a week and then pizza for the other four.”
Steff believes Arlo has avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, though he hasn’t received an official diagnosis. At his worst, he would devour two boxes of Shreddies and consume more than 27 chicken nuggets weekly.
Steff, who shares a home with Arlo’s stepfather Stuart, 43, explained: “He’s never been officially diagnosed him with ARFID, but the NHS doesn’t have the resources to diagnose him. The paediatricians were useless, we didn’t even get given the opportunity to see a dietician or anything.”
In a last-ditch bid to tackle Arlo’s eating habits and sleep problems linked to autism, Steff sought help from hypnosis expert David Kilmurry. Following just seven sessions, the eating disorder specialist David succeeded in getting Arlo to try various foods for the first time in seven years.
Steff said: “My husband first got in touch with David in March. We found him through the internet, looking for hypnotherapists. Arlo is very intelligent and doesn’t like not to be right and better himself.
“He was putting so much pressure on himself and we wanted someone to help with that. Then David asked about his diet and that’s what he specialises in himself.
“Within the first session Arlo had tried new foods, which we didn’t think would happen. He’s the most incredible man I’ve ever met. Everyone needs a David in their life. We use his videos to get to sleep at night, too.
“Arlo now has fruit, raisins, apples, blackberries, kiwi etc, which is a huge plus for children. He also has vegetables and eats chicken. Last night he had lamb chops for dinner.
“Last week he went to Nando’s and had the chicken wings. It’s been gradual and he came away from the first session trying things.
“He has a normal lunch box now. We’re still working on the dinner, we give him the spaghetti bolognese.”
His morning meal stays unchanged, but his midday food now features a croissant, snacks like Doritos or pretzels and fresh fruit.
Evening meals consist of poultry, greens, lamb chops and occasionally a Nando’s treat.
Steff added: “It’s just so odd, we’re trying to get our head around it. We thought it was not something that we thought would ever happen. This year he’s even managed to have a birthday cake for the first time since he was two, a lemon drizzle cake.”
David said: “It was a true blessing to meet and work with young Arlo and see him develop his fuel intake. I can’t be more pleased and inspired by this young hero with his huge breakthroughs.
“Originally, maths genius Arlo’s mommy and daddy booked him in for awful sleep, stomach issues and anxiety meltdowns. So, often Arlo would be back and forth to the bathroom several times to see if he needed it restless and overthinking throughout the night – and this meant night times were a horror story.
“So, with autism we make allowances for certain things, including the way we eat, avoiding certain places – many of our ARFID recovery successes are with children or adults that are neurodivergent, literal thinking can really help in recovery towards ‘free eating’.
“Arlo’s beige, bland and low-value diet was the main factor on why he didn’t sleep. Being within the diagnostics for ARFID is dangerous and never a nice thing, going on holidays for the family always had to be self-catering – restaurants were a no-go and having exactly the same food, military, every day at exactly the same time can be quite exhausting and ‘prison-like’ for the family.
“Over the course of the programme, Arlo hasn’t just overcome ARFID, he’s learned to eat freely and find a huge interest in food. He has also been able to sleep and, not just that, he’s come fully off the melatonin – which was giving him awful bladder issues and has some concerning side effects.”