Autistic child always hungry!

[Shootingstar2289]

Hi my DS (6) has ASD and is always asking for food. He is far from overweight but I worry he might get fat if he carries on.

We don't let him eat all the time, far from it but if he asks for food over and over again (even when I'm sure he is not hungry).

School days aren't so bad but he always comes home starving!!

During the Easter holidays he's been constantly asking for snacks and having a cry/scream if we say no. This week we had McDonalds on the way home from a day out. When he got home he asked for his tea!

The other day, he picked out some strawberry barny cakes in the supermarket. When we got home he was playing in the garden and must of took them out there without me realising. He ate the whole five in the box. Bearing in mind he had just eaten lunch.

As you can imagine, this weekend has been a struggle. He loves chocolate and he has eaten eat too much. This was out of our control as he started at his dad's last night and they seem to let him eat as much as he wants and he's been really hyper front the sugar rush!

He's always had a big appetite. Although, he is extremely fussy he does enjoy the food he likes. Does anyone else's children have this problem?

[stitchglitched]

Yes my DS (8) also has ASD and is absolutely obsessed with food. Within 20 minutes of having breakfast he's asking when lunch is. He is never full and always hungry, it is causing weight problems and is a constant battle. I try to fill the fridge with healthy snacks and fruit and we've taken up running together to try to keep his weight healthy. But it is very stressful (and expensive!)

[Imaginosity]

My DS age 7 has ASD and is constantly hungry - but then again so his little brother who does not have ASD. I think as long as he's doing plenty of exercise and is the right weight I'd let him eat plenty of healthy food - as much as he asks for. I'd try not to make an issue of it - don't deny him food if he wants it but just make sure the only options are nutritious.

[Shootingstar2289]

Thank you. He is very fussy with what he eats. Not keen on veg 😞 So it's hard! He would eat crisps all if we let him.

We also struggle with the exercise. He plays in the garden a lot, walks to school and back every day but going for walks and out and about is a struggle. We live in a busy touristy area so as you can imagine it's hard work! 😞 We do try and get out for walks around 7-8am a few days a week, when there is nobody around. 😅

[DepthsUnknown]

My DD(8) is not diagnosed but I strongly suspect she has ASD and the more I read on this board, the more I'm convinced of it.

DD is obsessed with food but really fussy too. She completely refuses fruit and veg and most of the things I cook. She does, however, love mushrooms and prides herself on this as so many of her friends hate them. She adores bread and would eat sandwiches or toast for every meal if she could. And bacon. She also loves crisps but only salt and vinegar flavour. And like most kids, sweets and chocolate.

She has low ability to self moderate although sometimes she is motivated to make 'good choices' to please me. It's a constant source of friction between us as I'm conscious that she needs to eat healthily but not wanting to provoke a meltdown. 'No' is met with some form of reaction anywhere between a strop and a meltdown depending on her mood.

She is quite overweight, possibly obese at this point but I never know what to do for the best. She is conscious about her weight so any gentle prompts to eat more healthily, make better choices etc. will cause her to become very upset and she will scream 'you think I'm fat'. Thinking about it, DD(6) is not nearly the same. She will nag for treats but more often than not, will readily accept if I refuse and will happily eat fruit and veg (except mushrooms just to be awkward ). This has made me realise what a big issue food is in our home; I hadn't even considered it before, it's just one of the things DD does iyswim.

[Shootingstar2289]

Sounds very similar Depthsunknown! Hard isn't it! 😞

[Imaginosity]

Do you have space for a trampoline - it's really good exercise. DS spends nearly an hour on it which is great on the days we can't get out for a walk

[imip]

Dd8 was a lot like this. Since very young, she's demolish anything! Always overweight til about 6, but still borderline, but she's very tall and solidly built. Her food issues til recently were certain foods not touching each other, but she generally ate everything.

In about the past 6 months, she has been going for long periods without eating. She's not really lost any weight, as she would still prefer junk (customary to give junky party bags to class instead of 30 cupcakes for birthdays at school, for example) but a lot of it cannot be avoided. Since Jan, she's started not eating at all at school. Not every day, but periods of a few days. Also, her food preferences are changing and she is really getting into lettuce and mini cucumbers. I feel like she's getting a very different take on eating now. I feel it is very unhealthy in a different was. She's certainly changed from the girl who would demolish anything, even someone else's food picked up from the floor!