Grace Hughes, the girl who did not eat, is continuing to make steady progress since her treatment in a specialist European hospital last summer.
The Dunedin public contributed about $50,000 to get the family to Austria for the treatment, which enabled Grace to eat without the gastric tube she had relied on for most of her life.
When they returned to Dunedin in January in time for Grace to go to school for the first time, she was eating custard.
Now, Grace (6) has added fruit such as stewed apples, pears and bananas to her custard, her mother Pip Hughes said.
"She's discovered ice cream and is much more likely to pick up food to smell or lick it."
Eating more had helped Grace's speech and she was also "loving" school and making good progress, Mrs Hughes said.
"No doubt about it, it [going to Austria] was the best thing we could have done."
