There has been an increase in an eating disorder which results in people avoiding certain foods. The condition was only medically recognised in 2013 and is called avoidant/ restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)

Eating disorder charity Beat received more than 2000 calls about it last year an increase from 295 five years ago. Specialist care for ARFID is not easily available.

Ir can affect people of any age but usually starts in childhood.

Symptoms include being a very selective eater who is fearful of new foods and worried about negative experiences related to unfamiliar foods. They may have strong negative reactions to the taste, smell, colours or textures of new foods.

Experts say it is essential to treat it early before it becomes entrenched and therefore more difficult to treat.

Scientists from Colorado State University have conducted research which shows that regular family routines are linked to children getting more sleep which has been associated with improved brain structure and emotional processing in their early years. Families eating together at the same time nearly every night, parents playing with their children, reading stories at bedtime and children going to bed at the same time every night had a positive impact on brain development.

MRI scans revealed that shorter sleep duration led to reduced cortical thickness in the frontal, temporal and parietal regions of the brain and smaller volume of the amygdala, a brain region key to emotional processing.

Researchers found that children from lower income families and those who had lower levels of education were more likely to get less sleep.

Psychologists have identified the average age when Santa scepticism creeps in. Children begin to distinguish between fantasy and reality during pre school years but their belief in Santa continues until middle childhood.

Researchers at the University of Texas interviewed 48 six to fifteen year olds who had stopped believing in Santa and 44 of their parents plus a further 383 adults.

Disbelief began gradually about the age of 8 while some 3-4 year olds had convinced themselves that Santa did not exist. The testimony of other non believers finally crushed their faith.

Many had scepticism based on logical reasoning eg how could Santa get round the entire world in one night?

Many children were sad when they learnt that he did not exist, particularly in the abrupt way they learnt the fact.

Also many children had reduced trust in their parents as a result.

Many parents also felt bad about keeping up the deception.

When did you learn that Santa didn’t exist and how did you feel?