ADHD, Food and weight loss

[Greenkit]

My lad is 14 (a month off 15) he was diagnosed with ADHD in Jan 2012 and takes medication (54mgs) per day.

He is hungry in the morning 8am and will eat eggs on toast, or cerial, or just toast, then takes his tablets.

He will not eat for the rest of the day, until he gets home from school when he may or may not eat, sometimes he wont eat until 8pm or 9pm.

When he does eat its not a lot, mostly banana milkshakes made with milk and real bananas, or toast. I can get him to have a roast dinner sometimes, but he is very picky.

The consiquence of this is he has lots quite a bit of weight, 1 and a half stone within the first 8 months. He was a little podgy before he started to take the tablets as he ate as much sugar that he could get his hands on. But he is now looking very thin, boney although he has suddenly shot up and is about 5, 6.

Im not really sure what to do, if he stops taking his tablets even for one day he is a nightmare and uncontrollable, if he takes tham he is amazing.

I need to know what foods I can give him which are high in goodness, and what experiences other people have gone through.


(I have texted son to ask how much he weighs)

[Greenkit]

Son says he is 8 stone 10lbs and is 5 foot 6 inches tall

[ToBeFair]

We had a similar experience at a similar age, although my DS was very hungry when the medication wore off. Is he on eight hour extended release medication? So is maybe on it from 8am to 4pm, or different timing?

A few thoughts:
Will he eat any more for breakfast - maybe bacon and eggs, even with toast as well?
If he won't eat the school lunch. are there other snacks that he could take in and would eat? Cereal bars? Flapjacks? A banana? A chunk of cheese? Sandwiches, maybe? Anything is better than nothing, so it could be worth seeing is there is anything he thinks he would be hungry enough to eat. Or he could force himself to eat.
Is he not hungry when the medication wears off?

I am absolutely not a nutritionist, but I suppose that, at 14 and when he is growing fast, you should prioritise protein and some fats. Toast is OK, but probably not best. Meat, cheese, eggs would all be good things for him to be eating. Then pasta, potatoes, some vegetables and fruit, ideally.

I think that he almost needs to force himself to eat more, to keep up with his growth. I don't know your son, but can you work with him to agree what he is happy to eat? Has he covered nutrition / the food groups in Biology at school? You could maybe use that as a starting point for him to suggest the things in each category that he feels he wants to eat. I know that this could make your life very complicated, but your consultant / GP will be worried about weight loss.

I don't know if this is at all helpful to you.

[MadameSin]

Could you try him on the protein shakes? (Holland and Barrett) used for people who need to put on weight ... come in all sorts of flavours and are mixed with milk.