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من طرف karim amien الإثنين 17 أغسطس 2009, 1:25 pmAfter reading
Part I you might be thinking "who would have thought, the four food
groups are a good idea, thanks a lot." In fact, they are. Go figure.
However, where most people can get away with a glancing notion that
something meaty and leafy needs to be on the table once in a while,
parents with ADHD children really have to pay a bit more attention to
what is going on with foods and some additives.
First though, let's talk about meal times themselves. ADHD children
are notorious for not eating regularly. If left to his own devices, my
son would not eat until he was absolutely famished and then would gorge
on whatever was the fastest to fix with the highest taste ratio, which
means chips and salsa with ramen and a few frozen bagel dogs if they
were in the house. Or he might go for the frozen pizza.
If
there is a large amount of snack foods like chips and dips in the
house, like after New Years Eve or 4th of July gatherings, left to his
own devices my son will graze all day long on these things. Afterwards
the following days are very difficult for him, and us.
The
idea that one should eat normal portions at regular times and not wait
until pain from hunger drives you to the kitchen is completely foreign
to most ADHD children. "Time for lunch" you say, "But I'm not hungry.
Why should I eat when I'm not hungry" he says, and many parents think
to themselves 'that this is a pretty good piece of logic'.
Far
from a good piece of logic, however, is eating once or twice day huge
amounts of anything convenient at the moment. Many nutritionists tell
us we should eat small meals six times a day for a healthy body. I
often wonder if nutritionists have children when they say things like
that. That is beside the point however.
My
son starts getting distracted from lack of fuel and begins to become
more emotional about 3 hours after his last meal. The longer he goes
from that point, the worse it gets, and nothing is going to help him
when he's at that state. There are a number of arguments about whether
medication is the way to go with ADHD children. I leave that between
you and your doctor. What I will say is if his meals are not regular
and balanced, and if they are absent of foods that are nutritious but
more difficult to prepare, medications are not going to matter.
Physically,
the ADHD child needs a regular intake of good food, but also he also
needs this mentally. Meal times are periods he can refocus on what he
wants to do, rather than getting sucked into what he is doing at the
time. Mentally, meal times are a necessary break and a scheduled rhythm
to the day, without which ADHD children start to float around.
As
soon as my son is home from school we have a snack time. My son sits
down at the table, eats a small snack, and tells me about his day so
far. He then has his study period for one hour, and then he's on his
own until dinner. After dinner we go over his homework, if he had any,
and then the evening is his until his late-night snack. He goes to bed
soon after that.
On weekends, meal
times are more important as they serve as structure to the day:
breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, and snack. No, I don't do six meals a
day; I'm not going to lie to you there. My mental health is important
as well, not to mention my work. I leave on the table bananas and dried
papaya. Usually my son eats these snacks while passing in and out of
the house.
Honestly I can't tell you
that the lunches I make for him are really eaten by him at school. He's
a good trader, and enjoys trading. He trades toys and cards, and I'm
sure food is in there as well. I do send him with food, however, and
make sure at the very least a bowl of cereal is eaten in the morning. I
know breakfast is essential, not because the nutritionists tell me so,
but because his teachers tell me so. They know if he has had breakfast
or not within an hour of his arrival. You may not be blessed with as
vocal of teachers as I have been lucky enough to have, but believe me,
they know something was missed in the morning whether they tell you
about it or not.
Breakfast is also
that break in the morning rush to get to school when he sits in a chair
and looks at his "letter box" for his cue to remember to grab his
homework.
Meals are scheduled times
of day our children can refocus and balance their bodies chemistry. If
you want to help your child sleep better, and socially interact with
the world around him better, then these are essential periods of the
day for them and you.
Part I you might be thinking "who would have thought, the four food
groups are a good idea, thanks a lot." In fact, they are. Go figure.
However, where most people can get away with a glancing notion that
something meaty and leafy needs to be on the table once in a while,
parents with ADHD children really have to pay a bit more attention to
what is going on with foods and some additives.
First though, let's talk about meal times themselves. ADHD children
are notorious for not eating regularly. If left to his own devices, my
son would not eat until he was absolutely famished and then would gorge
on whatever was the fastest to fix with the highest taste ratio, which
means chips and salsa with ramen and a few frozen bagel dogs if they
were in the house. Or he might go for the frozen pizza.
If
there is a large amount of snack foods like chips and dips in the
house, like after New Years Eve or 4th of July gatherings, left to his
own devices my son will graze all day long on these things. Afterwards
the following days are very difficult for him, and us.
The
idea that one should eat normal portions at regular times and not wait
until pain from hunger drives you to the kitchen is completely foreign
to most ADHD children. "Time for lunch" you say, "But I'm not hungry.
Why should I eat when I'm not hungry" he says, and many parents think
to themselves 'that this is a pretty good piece of logic'.
Far
from a good piece of logic, however, is eating once or twice day huge
amounts of anything convenient at the moment. Many nutritionists tell
us we should eat small meals six times a day for a healthy body. I
often wonder if nutritionists have children when they say things like
that. That is beside the point however.
My
son starts getting distracted from lack of fuel and begins to become
more emotional about 3 hours after his last meal. The longer he goes
from that point, the worse it gets, and nothing is going to help him
when he's at that state. There are a number of arguments about whether
medication is the way to go with ADHD children. I leave that between
you and your doctor. What I will say is if his meals are not regular
and balanced, and if they are absent of foods that are nutritious but
more difficult to prepare, medications are not going to matter.
Physically,
the ADHD child needs a regular intake of good food, but also he also
needs this mentally. Meal times are periods he can refocus on what he
wants to do, rather than getting sucked into what he is doing at the
time. Mentally, meal times are a necessary break and a scheduled rhythm
to the day, without which ADHD children start to float around.
As
soon as my son is home from school we have a snack time. My son sits
down at the table, eats a small snack, and tells me about his day so
far. He then has his study period for one hour, and then he's on his
own until dinner. After dinner we go over his homework, if he had any,
and then the evening is his until his late-night snack. He goes to bed
soon after that.
On weekends, meal
times are more important as they serve as structure to the day:
breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, and snack. No, I don't do six meals a
day; I'm not going to lie to you there. My mental health is important
as well, not to mention my work. I leave on the table bananas and dried
papaya. Usually my son eats these snacks while passing in and out of
the house.
Honestly I can't tell you
that the lunches I make for him are really eaten by him at school. He's
a good trader, and enjoys trading. He trades toys and cards, and I'm
sure food is in there as well. I do send him with food, however, and
make sure at the very least a bowl of cereal is eaten in the morning. I
know breakfast is essential, not because the nutritionists tell me so,
but because his teachers tell me so. They know if he has had breakfast
or not within an hour of his arrival. You may not be blessed with as
vocal of teachers as I have been lucky enough to have, but believe me,
they know something was missed in the morning whether they tell you
about it or not.
Breakfast is also
that break in the morning rush to get to school when he sits in a chair
and looks at his "letter box" for his cue to remember to grab his
homework.
Meals are scheduled times
of day our children can refocus and balance their bodies chemistry. If
you want to help your child sleep better, and socially interact with
the world around him better, then these are essential periods of the
day for them and you.
