Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Recognizing Hunger

We have the opposite problem ... DD claims she is hungry and I have noticed it is because she is bored. If I can redirect her to another activity she tends to forget that she's 'hungry'. This is usually my tactic because if I argue she isn't hungry it backfires and I have the whining child who is completely focused on food and nothing else.

GM5-you described my ds6 perfectly! Your experience sounds exactly like ours, food sensitivities and all. He's pretty picky, although he's gotten MUCH better, so I have to put a lot of thought into his food choices. I really like the cupcake pan idea. That's great. Ds would be totally into that if I could just find enogh snacks he'll eat! We also pair cheese or lunch meat with fruit. String cheese is our best friend in a pinch, as is yogurt. Thanks everyone for your thoughts on this and for sharing your experience. I've been trying to pay close attention to when ds has last eaten so that I can head off a potential meltdown. It does seem to help. Today, he was REALLY hungry just before lunch, and he said, "Mom, I'm struggling to survive, here!" My dramatic little man!

As a person who grew up not knowing I had reactive hypoglycemia, I think I might be able to tell you a little bit about what it feels like.

I can go from being completely fine and not hungry at all to being so ravenous I might die in a period of five minutes. I never realized this was not normal until I read an intuitive eating book called "Are You Hungry?" and realized that I never had the one to two hour warning period of gradual increases in hunger signals that most people get. When I talked to my siblings, they agreed that they were exactly the same way -- not hungry to ravenous in less than five minutes. And when I say ravenous, what I mean is it literally feels like I will die if I don't immediately get food. A pounding, strong headache, desperation, intense irritability about whatever I'm working on. It's nothing like the gradual sensations of hunger I've read about.

The only way I've found to avoid it is to eat lots of small snacks irrespective of whether I'm "hungry" -- my goal is 6 per day, and I have a schedule where I know that if it's 9:30,I'd better eat something or by ten I will feel terrible.

So when you say that it's hard to get your son to recognize that he's hungry -- maybe it's because he doesn't feel hunger in the same way that you do. I didn't realize until I was over 30 that most people do not recognize "hunger" by an intense headache. But eating something ALWAYS made my headache disappear.

I don't have children, but I would venture to guess that the best solution for children is to feed them very often (and always small meals low in carbs and sugar) until they're old enough to understand what hypoglycemia means and can monitor themselves by just knowing that 7, 9:30, 11:30, 1:30, 3:30, and 6:00 mean that it's snack time, no matter what, and regardless of whether they want to interrupt what they're doing to eat.

I like the cupcake pan idea -- if, like Jen, I could find enough things that DD would eat!

I've always been hypoglycemic, and when it hits me I can just feel my blood sugar drop. I get the shakes, and I have to get something in NOW. Most of the time it's not that bad, and it just makes me irritable, impatient and angry.

My kids, especially DD7, have it to at least some degree -- I think DS11 has gotten better in the last year, but I used to have to stop him and make him eat when he would get cranky. I still do, with DD7 -- when she has a meltdown, playing with her friends, I make her come inside and eat something, and then she's fine.

It is hard to control your emotions when your blood sugar is low. I was amazed to read that someone's kid doesn't get to eat between breakfast and lunch - isn't that what morning break is for. NZ has always had a 20 min recess for food and exercise mid morning. My son has a break from 10.30 to 10.50 then lunch from 12.30 to 1.30 (20 mins eating outside then outside play). If your child doesn't get a break for exercise and food at least every 2.5 hours it is time to start being an activist because it is not reasonable.

My son's classroom has a table set with snacks during the morning and afternoon work periods. Snacks usually include fresh fruit and veggies, crackers, cheese, milk and juice. The kids have to serve themselves using utensils, sit at the table to eat and clean up afterwards. Only a few are allowed over to that table at a time but if the kids are hungry, they can head over there and eat as much as they want.

I didn't know they had that until I was in his classroom last week. I was kind of impressed. It seemed so civilized.

Wow, that is an excellent classroom!

This year, second grade doesn't get snacks because there are too many kids with food allergies. Apparently they switch classrooms for some classes, so none of the three second grade classes can have snacks. DD7 seems to be ok with it, though she was upset when school started and she found out. They do have lunch fairly early, so her blood sugar problems are saved for afternoon when school gets out.

My DS's preschool had a setup like KJP is describing. But, in his 1st grade class now, they do not have a snack break in the morning - instead they eat lunch early at 11:30 AM. I load up DS with breakfast and fruit and water and send him on his way each morning. His behavior changes drastically when he is hungry. When I pick him up from school, there is a small packed snack in the backseat. My DS has never once asked for food in his life - just does not feel hunger. He is intense in playing and never stops to consider whether he is tired or hungry. I have learnt to anticipate hunger and constantly give him snacks before the behavior deteriorates. I also carry snack bags every time we set out for extracurriculars or small trips so that he is constantly fed. The snacks I carry are: cheese sticks, carrots, cucumbers, craisins, dates, graham crackers, cheese crackers, grapes, strawberries, bananas, apple slices with cream cheese, granola bars, fruit chips, milk cartons, yogurt squeeze tubes.

And I forgot to mention - there is also a nut cracking area this year.

Apparently DS was victorious in a pistachio eating contest against one of his friends yesterday.

Another vote for hypoglycemia. My daughter goes from not hungry to ravenous in 30 seconds flat. In fact, I could ask her if she wants dinner and she can say no, not right now and then 10 minutes later she is demanding food and when I ask her why she told me she wasn't hungry she gets very upset. I choose to make light of it and call it HANGRY (hunger that turns into anger) and ask her if she can please let me know when she needs food BEFORE her hunger turns to hanger. LOL At any rate, I think frequent small snacks that are nutritious (protein and carb together) that last longer are the key.