"The first meal is always the most difficult," says Tseng. Because they have eaten only liquefied food for a long period of time, anorexics usually have great difficulty in accepting solid food the first time. Some anorexics must first ingest high-protein liquid nourishment to replenish essential nutrients. For the few unusually uncooperative patients, if their condition deteriorates to a certain level, the hospital may consider forced tubal feeding.
「第一餐永遠是最困難的，」曾美智說，厭食患者長期吃流質食物，通常很難第一次就接受固體食物，有的患者只好先以高單位蛋白質的流質食品補充營養；而對少數異常不合作，但身體狀況又極差的病患，院方或許會考慮強迫灌食。