Do not scold her, she told me.

Do not throw the hidden food away in front of her.

That would only confirm the fear.

Instead, do the opposite.

Give her, visibly and permanently, exactly the security she is missing.

So I placed a clear plastic storage tub on a low shelf in the refrigerator, at her height, where she could always see it and always reach it.

And I filled it, together with her, the two of us kneeling in front of the open fridge: yogurts, cut fruit, cheese sticks, juice boxes.