@ Asker 14:09 Jul 14, 2015
We can be fairly certain of the intended meaning here (unless there is other wider context to the contrary) because of the way it is worded in EN.
'insists on eating...' strongly implies that she actually DOES eat; in this sense, it is quite close (but not quite identical to) to the 'persists in...' suggested by F-X.
Were it to have the first meaning you suggest, I think other forumlations would have been more likely — for example, 'insists on being allowed to eat...' or (more formally, perhaps more dated) 'insists she be [subjunctive] allowed to eat...'. | 
peer agreement (net): +1
