Q4: eating and drinking
This advice applies to Wales. See advice for See advice for England, See advice for Northern Ireland, See advice for Scotland
What this question means
This question is about how your physical or mental health condition:
makes it difficult for you to eat and drink
means you eat too much or not enough
Eating means being able to cut up food into pieces, put it in your mouth, chew and swallow it.
You should say if you have physical difficulties, and if you need prompting or reminding to eat or stop eating.
Tick box question 4a
"Does your condition affect you eating and drinking?"
Yes
No
Tick box question 4b
"Do you use a feeding tube or similar device to eat or drink?"
Yes
No
Question 4c
"Tell us about the difficulties you have with eating and drinking and how you manage them."
It’s important you tell the DWP more by explaining your situation in the box.
It's your chance to give the DWP a true picture of how your condition affects your ability to eat and drink. They'll use this to decide if you get PIP.
You can also use this space to explain what help you need but don't get.
You use a tube feed system
If you use a feeding tube into your stomach, or a feeding line into your veins, consider whether you need any help with this.
You’re more likely to get PIP if someone helps you, so it’s important to say:
who helps you
how they help you
what would happen if you didn’t have the help
Aids you use
Think about what aids you need to eat and drink including things like weighted cups and adapted cutlery. It might help to imagine eating out or at a friend’s house instead of your own.
List all the things you use and why you need them - for example if you have to use a bowl instead of a plate to avoid spilling your food.
Never miss an aid off your list because you think it's obvious, and always:
explain how they help you
explain what would happen it you didn't use them
make it clear if a health professional advised you to use them
include any aids that would help you if you had them
include any aids that your condition prevents you from using
Someone physically helps you
If someone helps you to eat or drink, explain what they do and why.
If you need someone to help you cut up your food then explain why they need to, and what would happen if they didn't.
Also explain if you avoid eating any particular types of food because it needs to be cut up, or it's too fiddly. For example if you don't eat fish because of the bones but you could if someone cut it up and de-boned it for you
If you can't get food or drink to your mouth at all and someone has to do this for you, explain who does this for you, why they need to, and what would happen if they didn't.
If you can't feed yourself then you should definitely get PIP.
Someone supervises you for your safety
This means that someone is with you when you eat or drink. They don't have to be constantly watching you - they just have to be around. For example, this could be because you're at risk of choking.
If you've had problems with eating and drinking in the past, say what happened and why - for example if you had an epileptic fit while eating.
You should also mention:
how often a risk happens, even if it doesn't happen regularly
how badly you could be harmed
whether there's anything you can do to prevent it happening
Someone prompts, reminds or encourages you
If you need someone to help you eat in a safe way, you should explain how they do this.
If you need prompting to eat
Think about whether you ever skip meals. This could be for many reasons such as:
trying to eat causes you pain or leaves you exhausted
you can’t face it
the thought makes you anxious
If you don’t eat regular meals, try to explain why and how often this happens. Try to be specific about whether you’re prompted, reminded or encouraged, and who does this.
Here are some examples:
‘I'm recovering from an eating disorder, and although I think I'm getting better I find it hard to eat more than once a day and I very rarely eat breakfast or lunch.
My partner has to talk me into eating a meal and usually has to make it as I wouldn't prepare anything for myself. They make sure I eat most evening meals, but if they're not there I don't bother.'
'My medication makes me feel queasy and sometimes it makes me sick after I've eaten. I try to put off eating in case it makes me ill. My mum tries to come round most days to check up on me and see that I've eaten. I'll eat because she's there telling me to, but I'll avoid it if I can.'
If you need prompting to stop eating too much
Try to explain why you struggle to stop eating, and how often this happens.
Try to be specific about when you’re prompted, reminded or encouraged to stop eating too much, and who does this.
You should also mention if:
you're at risk of choking because you eat too quickly
you're at risk of vomiting because once you start eating, you find it impossible to stop
Time it takes
Think about whether it takes you at least twice as long to eat and drink as someone without your condition.
Try to explain how long it takes. It’s ok to estimate but say if you are. If it’s too hard to estimate explain why - for example, because it depends what you try to eat, or your condition fluctuates.
Remember to:
include the time for breaks if you can't eat a meal in one go
explain if it takes you even longer on a bad day
explain if it takes longer to eat later in the day, or when you're tired
Good days and bad days
Explain how you cope on both good days and bad days and how you manage over a longer period of time (like a week). This gives the DWP a better picture of how you cope most of the time.
Make it clear:
if you have good days and bad days
how often you have bad days
if you have bad days more often than not
how your difficulties and symptoms differ on good days and bad days
what extra difficulties and symptoms you experience on a bad day - for example you find it very difficult to swallow and can't finish a meal
It’s ok to estimate your bad days but say if you are. If it’s too difficult to estimate - explain why. For example, because your condition fluctuates.
Symptoms like pain, breathlessness, anxiety and tiredness
Explain whether the difficulties you have eating or drinking cause you any physical or mental symptoms (like pain, discomfort, tiredness or feeling down).
It's helpful to explain the symptoms and give an example, including:
how often you have them
how long they last
if they're likely to increase the risk of an accident
if they affect your ability to carry out any of the other activities on your PIP claim form
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