Our little girl can ONLY eat KFC popcorn chicken and I fear she’ll starve after her school banned it
THE PARENTS of a six-year-old girl with a rare eating disorder fear she will starve after her school banned the only food she can eat.
Akira Gujadhur has Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) which started after she suffered a severe throat infection at eight months old that stopped her eating.
The youngster can only eat bite sized chunks of chicken and her parents Raj and Hem say they have spent thousands on buying their little girl KFC takeaways everyday.
The Bournemouth couple had previously dropped off the popcorn chicken at her old school.
Akira is due to start a new school in September but staff won’t allow the KFC favourite on the premises as they say they are unhealthy and might cause issues for other children who have allergies.
The KFC website states that the popcorn chicken contains; milk, egg, wheat, gluten and celery.
It also highlights that it may contain; sesame, soya, barley, mustard and sulfur.
A regular popcorn chicken contains 285 calories and 1.7g of fat.
Mr Gujadhur who works as a senior actuarial analyst for finance firm Capita has said he might have to quit his job so he can pick his little girl up every lunch time and take her for a KFC.
When Akira was first diagnosed with ARFID doctors advised putting different foods in front of her until she selected something.
What is Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
It is an eating disorder that is characterised by disturbed eating patterns.
The condition can often leave those who have it with severe nutritional deficiencies and low energy levels.
Children with the condition often struggle to gain weight.
People with the illness will often struggle with certain foods because of the way they look or because of their texture.
Symptoms include:
- Anxiety when presented with certain foods
- Pickiness in choosing what to eat
- Weight loss in adults
- Failure to gain weight in children
- A dependence on supplements
She chose a piece of popcorn chicken and has refused to eat anything else since. She is given vitamins to ensure she gets sufficient nutrients.
Since then Akira’s consultants at St Thomas’ Hospital in London are said to have penned a letter to KFC, asking them to provide the family with a supply of frozen chicken in order to get them through the Covid-19 lockdown.
A spokesperson for KFC this afternoon told The Sun that the company did provide the family with the chicken in April.
Akira had to switch schools as her old one was unable to cater for her learning needs.
Her parents secured her a place at Portfield School in Christchurch, Dorset.
The Gujadhurs appealed the school’s decision not to allow KFC on the premises but lost their case at a local authority tribunal hearing.
Mr Gujadhur said the family was “very upset by how they had been treated” and claimed the school was “irresponsible”.
“Akira’s old school was a mainstream school and were feeding her the popcorn chicken with no problem at all.
“But it cost around £2,000 a year and the local authority basically said food is not part of her educational needs so they could not pay for it anymore.
“Portfield School have said they are happy to offer her a place but don’t want her to eat popcorn chicken because it’s fast food and they say she needs to eat healthily.”
He said he didn’t understand the decision as it was a specialist school for “people like her daughter who have additional needs”.
“Akira can’t speak and she doesn’t understand.
How can they force her not to eat the only thing she has been eating for the last five years?
Mr Gujadhur
“The local authority is saying she can’t go to school without food but the school is saying she can’t eat the only thing she eats at school.
“The tribunal seems to basically be saying it’s the parents’ problem.”
Mr Gujadhur said the tribunal is effectively saying that if they feel like she can’t stay at school without food then they will have to pick her up each lunch time.
“The school is 50 minutes from my work and we’re not allowed to feed her at the school, we’d have to take her KFC or take her home to feed her then bring her back.
“My wife doesn’t drive and I can’t take hours out of work. The only alternative is to starve her at school.
“They’re not being helpful at all.”
He also claimed other children at the school are allowed to take sausages in.
“How can they force her not to eat the only thing she has been eating for the last five years?
“If they said she could eat at school we would be happy to pay for the deliveries and I don’t see how it would affect other children as once delivered it could be put into a lunchbox and look similar to any other lunch.”
The school doesn’t agree with takeaway food being brought into school or being eaten in front of other pupils.
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The school also raised concerns at the tribunal about the risk of allergens to other pupils’ well-being.
A spokesman for Portfield School, which is managed by Autism Wessex, said: “At Autism Wessex, our top priority is the welfare and safety of all of our students and service users, and at no point would we allow any child or young adult to be put at risk of harm.
“As the privacy of each child is one of our highest priorities, we will not be commenting in relation to this specific case; only that we are required to follow the judge’s ruling as an outcome from a tribunal hearing.”
Councillor Sandra Moore, portfolio holder for children and families at BCP (Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole) Council, said: “We are aware of the outcome of the tribunal and accept the findings.
“We are working with Portfield School and the family over the arrangements to support the successful transition to the new school.”