Original version

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

The Food Chain

Factual: Food & Drink

Examining what it takes to put food on your plate

The Food Chain examines the business, science and cultural significance of food, and what it takes to put food on your plate.

Why can’t my child swallow?

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service East Asia

The Food Chain: Why can’t my child swallow?

Magazines & Reviews

26/01/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - The Food Chain, Why can’t my child swallow?

Dysphagia: parents share their experiences of feeding a child with swallowing problems

To feed a child is fundamental to a parent, it’s instinct. But what if your baby can’t swallow?

After receiving lots of emails to a programme we made on dysphagia – or swallowing difficulties – we were asked to explore the condition as it affects children.

In this edition, Ruth Alexander speaks to parents Kelly Rose, in the UK, and Melanie and Sean Hoffman in Canada, about how they manage their children's conditions and their relationship with food; and to a doctor, Professor Hamdy El-Hakim, who is on a mission to ensure dysphagia is better understood. 

And we hear from the children themselves. Three-year-old Bodhi and five-year-old Ophelia share their thoughts about food.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: Bodhi and his mother Kelly Rose. Credit: Kelly Rose/BBC)

Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Food Chain

Why can’t my child swallow?

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

About BBC World Service