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ovreating and aspergers

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has anyone else found their child overeats?does anyone think it has a link with autism.steve has aspergers and eats all day long,he is 11 and im finding it harder to control his eating habits has anyone else had any experience wiyh this?

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Hi Hev

 

My son is 15 and never stops eating. I have to hide food all over the house :lol:

 

I think there is a link with autism where some children don't seem to register that they are full.

 

I can't stock up on anything anymore cos he eats is all. Plus he covers everything with mountains of salt. We had an appointment with a dietician but it wasn't any help.

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M is the same. Even at bed time he wants a little bed time snack.

Fortunately he is happy to trough on alot of healthy foods and I have a strict 12md rule for anything sweet. Forunately he's not overweight but I am conscious that he eats so much more than his NT bro!

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:) Hi my 10 year old son with Asperger's used to eat all the time until he started taking Melatonin for sleep problems. However we did notice that on Melatonin,he did not pace/flap so much during the day, was calmer and slept more. Therefore we have just assumed that he needed the energy before. It wasn't unusual to have a conversation with him while he circled the living room!

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Our AS son (7) would eat all the time if we let him.

 

There seem to be two main things driving this.

 

1. there is definitely a sensory issue where he simply doesn' know when he is full

 

2. He 'comfort eats when under stress, which is most of the time during term time. :(

 

This ends up making him very self-concious as he is about half a head taller than anyone else in his class, and he has also become quite chubby too.

 

Haven't got any answers I'm afraid!

 

 

Simon

Edited by mossgrove

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Our 10 year old has AS. We introduced a gluten free diet last a year ago. Unfortunately this meant cutting out all his favourite foods. I used to worry that he wasn't eating enough. He wasn't fading away just we weren't sure if he was getting enough to see him through the day at school etc.

 

He has been taking Risperdol since last October and his appetite has grown hugely. He wants to eat non-stop now. One good thing is that he will eat almost anything we give him so he is getting lots of fruit now.

 

If we are around, he will ask if he can have anything to eat and we can usually put him off until later if we think he has had enough.

 

We also try to encourage him to take more exercise, trampolining, he even comes walking with me more than he used to.

 

Mike

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My nearly 5 year old son who is autistic continuously eats all day long. As soon as hes finished one thing he'll go and find something else, if its not food its drink, he drinks like a fish too. I put it down to boredom as he doesnt really occupy himself that much and I know that if I'm bored I tend to eat loads too. I never thought that it might be because he doesnt realise that he is full :wacko:

Luckily he remains very skinny because I dont know what I'd do if I had to watch his weight as well.

 

 

Lyns

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My son also drinks like a fish - If I dont give him juice he'll just go and get water

 

He tries to eat all the time - but I will only let him eat fuit between designated meal times - and he usually just says oh - Ill wait then.

 

it took a while of us continually backing up the well if your hungry the fruit bowls there - help yourself - he's almost stopped asking as much now - coz he knows the answer will be the same - from both of us -

 

 

I never even thought of it before though and I could say that C doesnt know when he's full. The other big issue I have is that he doesnt acknowldege the feeling of needeing the toilet tills he's desperate and in pain. - he doesnt think it an important enough function to stop what he was focused on. and occasionally we have had accidents just inched from the loo - and he gets incredibly upset if this happens.

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I have always said Toni doesn't have the "I'm full mechanism" If i don't watch her she will eat until she is physically sick. Parties are a nightmare as she spends the whole time eating

I have mentioned to her Doctor that i thought she was obsessed with food or she didn't feel full and she just looked at me stupid and changed the subject.

Toni can't reach the top cupboards at the moment but that won't last for ever she already helps herself to the contents of the fridge

 

Bev xxx

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Overeating?! :blink: Nope - anything but. I undereat, missing meals quite often. (Just trying to illustrate we don't all overeat. :) )

 

James

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My son (9) does not overeat either, in fact he eats very little (and has quite a light body frame). he tends to binge on snack like chocholatey stuff, he cannot stop, e.g. if he has a bag of crisps he has to have two, so I must buy very little of thise things. Wonder if it's hereditary to and has nothing to do with being Asperger, as i eat little too but tend to binge like my son, therefore I do not buy any snacks, it's the only way.

the rest of the family (husband and daughter) do not have this problem (lucky them!) but my mother does.

Interesting, ... :eat1:

 

Martina

Edited by Corcaigh

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Hi

My daughter (6), never stops eating, (Well that's if I let her,) she would constantly be eating if I didn't put my foot down. She is always saying that she is hungry, even if she has just had dinner.

It's like she forgets that she has just eaten, her appetite wasn't very good when she was younger but she is certainly making up for it now.

She also drinks bottles and bottles of juice.

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Hi, My son (6) is just the opposite. He has a very limited range of foods and would be quite happy not to eat at all. We had a particularly bad time a few months ago when he would not eat-he would examine everything and reject it if it had the slightest mark or blemish. Thankd goodness for milkshake, which is what kept him going through the worst of it!

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Have never heard of this association with Aspergers, my daughter has times where she is ravenous for days on end, when we were on holiday she ate 6croisants on the run and will often finish left overs.

 

She is incredibly slim and fit and healthy but as she is now verging on adolescance we have talked about the need for healthy eating as I don't want her to get overweight (as I am)

 

Anne

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I also have thought for some time , that there was an interesting link between overeating , bingeeating and sensory issues and autistic spectrum disorders. I had an eating disorder as a teenager, and alsoused to binge ate, when I became interested in healthy eating, I realised there are types of food that are addictive, all wheat based products,especially biscuits cakes with added sugar more addiction, I'm sure most overweight people overeat these things, wheat is also supposed to create opioids which has drug like effects on the brain, anyway none of this is proved , but I suspect there is a link

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I dont think theres so much a connection between asd and weight gain medically, because my 4 year old son eats and eats and is very skinny, but my 1 year old daughter eats the same amount and has put on alot of weight.

 

Its more to do with the autistic temperament as mentioned to not know they are full, and personal metabolism. Basically my daughters more prone to weight so she puts it on.

 

Its all sensory issues, late toilet training, poor temperature control, high pain threshholds, etc.

 

My 2 asd kids just don't seem to be able to read their own physical needs, and this effects them in many ways - including weight problems.

 

Its amazing to read these entries as all our children sufer very similar problems that are rarely recognised by many proffesionals, its all interlinked but nothing seems to get done about it.

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Guest Trinity

Hi everyone, My son (8) will eat continuously thoughout the day he will eat a meal and then ask for crisps, chocolate, biscuits or gallons of juice as since I have started on the road to diagnosis (7) :unsure: months it is hard for me to say for sure if it is an asperegers trait although I have noticed that he will eat loads of bread, dry if I say "no" he will sneak bread to his room and eat it he also does this with other food but mainly bread! does anyone else have this problem or is it just me? :unsure:

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Hi all

 

Wow I had never thought that over-eating / under eating could be connected with ASD. I have one of each! Ashley (10) needs to be reminded to eat and drink tho when u put a meal in front of him he eats like a horse. Christian just eats and drinkd for England from fruit to choc to main meals! Both are of very slight frame. I too am underweight despite eating healthily in addition to choc, choc and more choc (currently on 2-4 creme eggs per day!) Cant get above 8 stone (am 5ft 5) and size 8! I was also interested to read earlier in this thread about mountains of salt. OMG I crave salt all the time sometimes cant face choc and neeeed salt so eat marmite very thickly on toast! I dont cook with salt but add to my food after.

 

Well maybe this explains why docs dont understand failure to thrive cos they are growing tho not in proportion with amount they eat!

 

You learn something new everyday :D

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Forgot to say Christian also has very high pain threshold. He also cannot regulate his temperature. Has a phobia of jumpers especially but wears no clothes at every opportuntity!

 

 

Ashley only seems to have a problem with certain textures.

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My 11 year old AS son over eats. He eats a very limited diet (he complains if the texture is wrong, and even complains if I haven't cut his toast in a certain way, and the rules are constantly changing!).

 

Up until he was about 8 he was so active that he didn't put weight on no matter how much he would eat. As he's getting older he wants to spend more and more time on the computer or games consoles and would eat none stop whilst doing so. The only way I have managed to combat this is by not buying stores of snack foods. If he wants anything extra to eat in between meal times he has dry (sugar free) cereals.

 

Last year he was very over weight, but he is now normal weight and much more active (he only just recently learned how to ride a bike but is now happy to go on several long bike rides a week).

 

One thing that strikes me about my son is that he has terrible posture. He is very slouchy. He is particularly bad when he is a negative mood, even the muscles in his face slouch! Has anyone else noticed this?

 

Lauren

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I never even thought one of my boys who I think is also on the spectrum, eats constantly, teeth drums, or hums his mouth moving never stops, he will not go for a wee either and gets tummy ache aswell, the other one though is on spectrum and he hardly eats anything

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my son is a very fussy eater but if a food he likes is there he wil eat it until its all gone, whether or not he is full. he has made himself sick in the past through eating too much and now i have to tell him when hes had enough and remind him what happens.

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My AS son overeats as well, but because he is also diabetic, I have to keep a very close eye out on what he eats and how much! On the one hand that's not easy, but on the other hand it is easier because of the additional rules and he likes rules.

I do think it is also a sensory issue with him, he needs something to chew on constantly. He will chew on his hair (or mine...), on his shirt, paper clips etc etc etc. The other week I was given a special chewing tube for him, and he spent the whole weekend chewing frantically. However, he didn't just chew it, he also ate it so it wasn't suitable in the end. But, during that weekend he ate a lot less! So I think that apart from needing that full tummy (he does know when he is full up, but wants it to feel that way is my impression), he simply needs to chew which is what makes him ask for food all the time.

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J is constantly wanting food - we used to lock the larder door - now we lock the kitchen door - he has nearly pulled our enormous microwave off of the worktop in the search for food.

 

My solution works so far but early days...

 

I made a list of snacks, with limits on certain ones (like 2 bags of crisps per day) and also made a visual timetable showing meals and 'official' snack times. I added a proviso that Mum and Dad are allowed to alter the snack times to fit in with the day's activities! I added things to the list that he doesn't like at present in the hope of widening his choices of things to eat.

 

On a separate chart we stick a velcro label for the snacks he has had and we fold up the flap on the visual timetable to show that that snack time is 'finished'. The next mealtime shows 'available' alongside the approximate time of that meal/snack. He is also allowed two treats such as chocolate/icecream in addition to the meals/snacks.

 

Thank the Lord that he likes rules!

 

I'm hoping to eventually colour code the choices of food as green, amber and red - a bit like the GI diet - and so introduce making healthy choices ... but that's in the future.

 

:lol:

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having real trouble trying to introduce healthy eating without calling it a diet,it causes so many rows,he is so used to eating what he wants,i dont buy the junk food but hes desperate for it,or he thinks he is,it dont help ive got a weight problem and i turn to food when im fed up which is often!!

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Have noticed that myself lately. all the stress is definitely making me eat a lot more...especially chocolate....

 

Could you maybe introduce some more healthier foods in a 'sneaky' sort of way? Maybe you could make your own burgers and add a teensy bit of veg to it (sorry am vegetarian myself so am not sure if that would work). Or make a soup with his favourites and buzz it up so you could add a little bit of something else in it and he won't notice?

 

Is there any healthy stuff he does like, i.e cucumber, carrot, apple or whatever, so you could give him more of that? Or maek a cucumber salad with some lemon it it, and so slowly increase what he eats?

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Hi,

 

There could be more than one reason our kids are overeating, but the main reason is this:

 

the digestive system of most autistic/asperger kids is overridden with 'unfriendly' bacteria, yeast, parasites etc. Most of the food the kids eat does not get digested at all, it actually feeds bacteria and not the child.

 

My son was an over-eater - at 18 months of age he was eating more than me or my husband (no kidding!) - all sorts of food without any discrimination, sweet, sour, fruit, meat, veg, everything. all the time!! and when we did the lab test they showed malabsorbtion, bad digestion, his system was over-ridden with bad bacteria and he was lacking good bacteria and digestive enzymes. HE WAS MALNURISHED!!! Whatever food he would eat and without beeing able to digest it it was left over as food for bacteria. In other words we found out we had been feeding the gut bacteria and not our son!!! This bacteria and yeast than damage the gut in all sort of ways (and release all sorts of toxins that get to the brain - one of the factors contributing to autistic behaviours!), the digestion gets even worse and there is even more food left over for the bad guys. The best way to break this vicious cycle is by implementing the Specific Carbohydrate Diet - please read my full reply to this issue, posted just today:

 

 

My son has been on Specific Carbohydrate Diet for about 6 weeks now and the results are AMAZING!!! - too many too list here, would take a book format to go into detail, but he is a changed child already. Lets just say his digestion has improved (no more indigested food in his nappies), his diarrhea is a thing of the past, his attitude to food has changed (no more overeating, no more cravings...) and his behaviour/symptoms are a LOT better. Even if he reaches a plateau soon, in other words if he stays at this level of improvement, I would say that this diet has definitely been worth the effort (and it is hard work) and would recommend it to everyone.

 

This diet is gluten free in itself - it was originally developed to help celiac patients - it does allow certain dairy products, but we have chosen not to include dairy, at least for a while, as our son has been GFCF for about 6 months and we know he does not tolerate casein well. As the gut is supposed to heal on SCDiet (and judging by external signs this is already happening in my son's case) we are planning to introduce the homemade goat yoghurt in the near future - goats milk has lot less casein than cows milk and lots of autistic kids supposedly tolerate it well. I would love to hear from anyone who has already tried this yoghurt.

 

For anyone who might be interested in trying this diet, detailed information is available on its official website www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info and the original book is available through amazon.co.uk, it is called Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet, by

Elaine Gottschall. The latest edition of the book has a new chapter called "Autism Connection".

The website has lots of links to similar websites, like pecanbread.com (run by and for parents of autistic kids), with lots of receipes ideas etc.

 

My advice if you are still thinking of trying this diet is that you give yourself some time beforehand - spend a few weeks reading and researching Elaine's website and the book, locating suppliers, getting some kitchen equipment (like baking moulds, food processor etc) and definitely trying a few of the basic receipes before you introduce the diet 'for real'. This approach has saved me lots of stress. As I mentioned before, this diet is hard work in the beginnig, but it does get a lot easier. I would be glad to share my experience so far if you have more specific questions.

 

Good Luck!

 

 

P.S. you can hear the author speak on Defeat Autism Now conference of April this year - it can be downloaded for free from http://www.danwebcast.com/

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I shall bear this in mind then. He used to drink loads when he was little and now I just assumed he wasn't eating his lunch at school.

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