43. Why Your Child Might Not Recognize Hunger or Fullness Cues
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In this episode:
Brittyn discusses the common issue of children on the autism spectrum not recognizing their hunger and fullness cues. She introduces the concept of interoception, which is the ability to recognize what's happening in the body, and how many children with autism struggle with this.
Brittyn provideds practical strategies for parents, including ensuring meals contain filling nutrients like protein and fat and establishing a consistent eating schedule to help children maintain stable blood sugar levels. She also introduces her new membership community, the Nourishing Autism Collective, designed to support parents of children with autism in their nutritional journey.
Resources:
Join the Nourishing Autism Collective today and get up to $250 worth of bonuses added to your account. Join by November 17 to
TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to the Nourishing Autism Podcast where you take a deep dive into the research on autism and dietary changes, nutrition supplements, and lifestyle modifications. Every week, we break down nutrition topics and an easy-to-understand way for you to feel less overwhelmed and feel confident on your nutrition journey with autism.
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the Nourishing Autism Podcast. I'm so excited that you're here. I'm Brittyn Coleman, the Autism Dietician, and I'm super excited to talk about today's topic because so many people message me on Instagram almost every single day. Being like, Hey, my child doesn't recognize that they're full.
My child. Doesn't recognize that they're hungry. So they're eating, eating anything or just like not eating at all. What do I do? So I love to talk about this topic because I think a lot of parents also don't realize that this is something that's really common in autism. So I want to introduce you to something called interoception and interoception is basically our ability to recognize what is going on in our body, in our heads.
So we're able to make that mind, body connection. Now we have these internal. Cues, like we're hungry. We are full. We have to go to the bathroom. Maybe we're feeling anxious and our heart's beating really fast. So recognizing those internal organ cues. Now what I see a lot of times is that those on the autism spectrum, aren't making those connections.
There's a disconnect between the brain and the rest of the body. And so. We run into issues with overeating. Oftentimes because they're eating because they're trying to meet a sensory need. And then on top of that, their bodies aren't telling their brains, Hey, it's time to stop eating. Now. Our stomachs have lots of different sensors.
We have fullness sensors that. Detect how much our stomach is stretching, but then also how full is our stomach. And when those sensors start to stretch or when our stomach starts to fill, it tells our brain, Hey, time to stop, time to stop. We are done eating. We are full. There's not much room left.
Alternatively. Those sensors in our stomach. We, when it's empty, then it starts to say, Hey, it's time. We're hungry. Now our stomach is growling. It's time to eat. Our blood sugar is low. Like all of these internal cues telling our brain. So what happens is when a child doesn't recognize that they're hungry, Then we're going too long in between eating and their blood sugar dips.
And we might start to see some behaviors pop up that are how do the blue seemingly, but in reality, they actually have low blood sugar and they're feeling pretty fatigued. I don't know about you, but I get hangry very easily. I have to eat every two to three hours to really feel good in my body. And I'm able to recognize, Hey, I don't feel very good.
It's probably because they haven't eaten. And then I'm also able to tell my husband or whoever's with me. Hey, I'm not feeling great. I think that I need a bite to eat so that I can come back to being my real self, like feeling really good in my body. Now, children, first of all, they probably don't have the intuition to do that.
But second of all, if your child can not verbally communicate to you, Hey, I'm feeling not good. I need to eat something like making that connection is probably not going to happen in the way that they tell you that is in their behave. now the problem is when kids have low blood sugar, they start grabbing for whatever is going to help bring their blood sugar back up. And our body is doing, do this really intuitively.
And it's like, okay, what brings my blood sugar up straight up sugar or something really starchy that I can break down really easy. We're usually not reaching for like a protein bar or you know, something that has more fat and protein in it, or maybe something that is I mean, fruit does break down somewhat easily, but there's still fiber in it, which slows it down. Usually when people are in that blood sugar crash mode, they're reaching for something super sugary.
So I have a lot of people who come to me and they're like, all my child wants to do is eat sugar all day long and they're grazing all day long and I'm like, that's actually their body just trying to get the energy and fuel that it needs and are really. Efficient way. So it's really interesting to learn that.
So there are a few techniques that I want people to approach whether their child is not recognizing that they're full or not recognizing that they're hungry. And those two approaches are. A, we want to make sure they're eating enough, filling nutrients at meal time. So our most filling nutrients are protein and fat and protein and fat.
They leave the stomach longer. They take longer to digest. And so we want to make sure every meal, they aren't getting some protein and some fat. I would also love some fiber in there too, because fiber is it's slows the digestion down a little bit as well. And we want that it keeps their blood sugar in a good. Good place whenever we're not blowing through these superstar to super sugary foods in a way where it breaks down into sugar and then our body's craving more immediately.
So when we have those balancing, like filling nutrients that helps our blood sugar, instead of taking this like sharp spike and then drop it more, does this gradual curve. Where they now are there to have that big spike and drop in. We can stay in more of this like regulated zone of their blood sugar, and that's what we want.
So that's number one. What we want to do wa that's for kids who both aren't recognizing hunger cues and who are not recognizing fullness cues. So for those kids who are not recognizing fullness cues, having more protein and fat really is going to help them feel a little bit more full. You may also have to help them with choosing the right. Amount of food for them in the beginning. Because they might not have that amount of intuition to be able to see like a whole bag of chips and understand, oh, this is what it feels like to properly fill my stomach.
So sometimes we have to help them out a little bit. Now for kids who aren't recognizing hunger cues, we may have to add in some extra supports and we want them to get a really nutritious meal or snack.
So again, we want those really filling nutrients to be able to help fill them up and to get the calories and protein that they really need. And might have a hard time understanding like their body is telling them that they need. So number two. Is a solid schedule. So we want a super consistent schedule throughout the day. I like kids to be eating breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two to three snacks.
So it usually goes breakfast, snack, lunch, snack dinner, and then optional snack at the end of the day. That optional snack at the end of the day, something super boring, something that has some fat and some protein that is going to carry them on throughout the night. Like a little bit of yogurt or like some pretzels and cheese, something like that.
That's super boring, not super exciting. Like a piece of candy, of course. So when we have that structured. Routine throughout the day, they know what to expect and they can get in this really nice routine. So if they're not recognizing that they're hungry, then knowing, oh, it's 9:00 AM. It's time for me to eat a snack.
Oh, it's noon. It's time for me to eat a snack too. So utilizing visual schedules can be really helpful here utilizing other supports, like maybe an alarm that you have on your phone, or if they're old enough and have their own phone or their own watch having a timer to remind. Hey, it's time to eat now or, Hey, it's time to go to the bathroom now, or it's time to drink water.
You're probably really dehydrated. I'm really thirsty. So those supports can really help your child understand how to nourish themselves when their body isn't telling them. Now for kids again, who are eating, eating, eating, having that structure in place like a breakfast snack, lunch, snack, dinner snack.
They know when to expect they're going to eat. It's never a worry of when it's more of, Hey, I know that this is coming. A snack is coming up soon because I know that it's on the schedule.
So for kids who overeat and under eat, whenever their body's not telling them the right information. It's really helpful to get those filling nutrients, enough protein and fat and fiber, and next to have a really consistent routine around mealtime, making sure they're getting those consistent meals and snacks, usually eating every two to three hours is what kids thrive on. I would definitely talk to your child's school and work that in because some schools are really flexible when it comes to snacks, some are not.
And so if you notice that your child is getting low blood sugar, and this is affecting their learning, that is something to talk about with their team to make sure that they get this in on the IEP, because if. Not being nourished is affecting their learning and their education and experience at school as absolutely something that can come into their IEP to make sure they have the supports they need.
So I love talking about this topic and I really hope that this was helpful for you, whether you have a child who doesn't recognize their hunger cues or doesn't recognize their fullness cues, that you can start to implement some of these strategies. Now, if you're needing more nutrition support, I actually have something super exciting to share. I just opened the doors to my new membership.
It's called the Nourishing Autism Collective and inside of the Collective, we have tons of supports for parents who have kids on the autism spectrum. This entire membership is built to support you. I have a team of dieticians that answer your questions in our inner circle. But we also have hundreds of parents who are looking to achieve the same goals as you and help their, their kids feel good.
And so if you're looking for a community of like-minded parents, but also supportive community where you can get support from autism, dieticians, That is your place. I actually host monthly Q and a call. So you can attend those live Q and A's with me. And then you can also get access to guests, experts that I bring in quarterly.
So in December we have Molly, the autism spin Soltan coming in. Who's going to teach us about visual supports around mealtime. And then in January, I'm teaching a picky eating. Workshop for all of the members inside of the collective. And in February, we're bringing in an AAC specialist. Her name is Rachel Madel.
She is an autism and AAC specialist. This is just a nice sneak, sneak peek of what is to come inside of the collective. So you can join now by visiting www.nourishingautism.co. And I'll put that in the show notes below this video, so you can check it out. Please join us for this week only. So today is November 9th through next Friday, which is the 17th.
We are giving away. Free bonuses up to a $250 value. So if you are listening to this podcast episode and you want to join us, you can get up to $250 of free bonuses when you sign up for the collective. So it's this launch week only that you'll get this. So be sure to sign up, they will automatically be added to your account. And let us know if you found a collective from my podcast, I would love to welcome you in in fact, one of the first things that you do when you join the collective is introduce yourself, share what you're working toward. And one thing that you want to brag on your child about it's really cool.
Cause you get to celebrate those wins with other autism parents too. So I will be waiting for you inside of the inner circle in the nourishing autism collective. And I can't wait to support you. If you have any questions about it, feel free to DM me on Instagram and I would love to connect with you there and make sure that it's a perfect support for you.
Thanks so much everybody. And until next time, I'll see you on the next episode of the nourishing autism podcast.
Transcribed by Descript
ABOUT Brittyn Coleman, MS, RDN/LD, CLT
I’m a Registered Dietitian, Autism Nutrition Expert, and the Creator of the Autism Nutrition Library.
I work with parents of children with autism to optimize their child’s diet, supplements, and lifestyle based on their unique needs. I help expand accepted foods for picky eaters, improve digestion and gut health, find the root causes of many symptoms, and ultimately help them feel their best so that they can do their best and be their best.
Not only do I relate to families on a professional level, but also on a personal level. I have been a part of the autism community for over 20 years, as my younger brother was diagnosed on the spectrum at a young age.
I look forward to working with you to uncover the root cause of your child’s symptoms and help your child be the best version of themselves!
