A schoolboy from Radlett has shared his story of navigating an eating disorder and finding a new love for cooking.
Twelve-year-old Lucas Mitchell suffers with avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (AFRID), the third most common selective eating disorder. People with AFRID find eating new foods anxiety-inducing, and are often restricted to specific diets.
Parents Bradley and Nina were eager to encourage Lucas when he developed a tentative interest in cookery. They took him to the Hertfordshire County Show, where Lucas saw a barbecue demonstration on a Traeger Grill.
Lucas’ parents bought him a barbecue kit, hoping that Lucas’ interest in cookery might offer him a new sense of control over food.
He has now gone from food phobia to super-taster, cooking up all sorts of barbecued delights for himself and his family.
Lucas told RadlettNews: “My favourite thing to cook is ribs. I follow recipes from YouTube and TikTok.”
Lucas’ food choices have expanded through his experimenting with the grill, and he is even thinking about how he might turn his skills into more than just a hobby one day.
He said: “I just wanted to share my progress, from someone who has issues around food, to becoming a food fan. I want to encourage anyone out there with the same problems as me to try learning more about food and finding new ways to cook it – it can be a lot of fun.”
Good for him. A future TV chef