Overeating? | Autism PDD

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I do agree that it may be a sensory issue which is hard for me to get my head around what this actually means!

I also try to give him healthy food as he can be sluggish and prone to constipation.  My doctor thinks there's nil wrong with his thyroid.

When my ds was an infant he wanted to eat constantly.  I had always read that infants always know when they're full, and will not over eat.  Turns out that's not entirely true.  We worked hard to limit his intake and did lose most of the extra weight he gained as an infant.  His Ped gave us such a hard time about it, instead of considering there may be something causing it.

Zach's now 68 pounds, and 4'2" tall, and he weighs a little more than he should, but far from overweight. 

These days he needs to eat small meals every 2 hrs from around 10am to 5pm every day, and other than those times rarely eats much, especially after 5pm.  If he's having a growth spurt he does tend to eat more.  If he doesn't eat often enough he will go into huge meltdowns.  In between the screaming we get a few bites into him, and he quickly calms down.

The weird thing is this kid is extremely hyper and never loses those few extra pounds.  He has been checked for underactive thyroid since he has other related symptoms (constipation and constant fatigue), that came back okay.

We've had a huge amt of additional testing done on Zach, but nothing has ever come back showing a specific metabolic problem, and I have a feeling it's always going to be that way.

Unfortunately, when there is a neurological issue, there are often additional problems that have no obvious cause.

I know that's not much help, but it's worth talking to a Ped Neuro when you have concerns that can't be explained by your regular Ped.

 

 

i have never heard that at all

lol

Overeating: This behaviour can easily be brought under control by structuring the physical environment in such a way that at all other times except mealtimes, food is out of sight and out of reach.  In many homes, autistic children eat because they can't think of another way to occupy themselves.  So apart from putting away food (locking cupboards and fridges, if necessary) leave items of interest around, like books, puzzles, etc available for the child to use when desired.

Aside from this, if the child during meal times finds himself unable to figure out when to stop, then that will have to be taught to him.  Serve less food to start with.  Have only enough for a certain number of helpings, i.e two or three for each person present and tell the child "You can take once more when you finish".  When the child is taking his second helping, tell him, "This is the last time" and when he finishes, say "Finished, time to eat is over".  Statements such as these must be followed through even if the child asks for more.  Learning not to overeat is an important social skill.

My daughter also has always eaten A LOT. She is adopted from Korea and when we picked her up there, she was huge! Over time she has slimmed down quite a bit because she is so active and we only let her eat healthy foods. My understanding though, is that this is a part of ASD sometimes. Some kids cannot monitor their intake. She is 3 now and I'm not sure if this gets better with time.

Thanks for the input - i took him to the doc who checked for diabetes but that was it. I suppose we'll have to get more checks done to rule any other med conditions.

Shell - thanks for that, I know i'm going to have to get a lot more regimented with the food round here. It just seems like a shame, but i suppose there's no choice.

I think he enjoys feeling extra full, full in a way most people would feel uncomfortable with.

he may have an underactive thyroid gland and a slow metabolism rate

your gp can do some tests to see

also you could try leaving fruit and low fat snacks around for when he does need to munch

my son is four and is narly 5 stone though he eats nothing.

shell

I have heard that some kids with asd have no sense of being full (like an
undersensetivity to fullness) and eat non-stop. My son sure has been
eating up a storm lately and I have started to worry about it.
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