Take A Load Off Dinner

Having a household of three growing boys and my husband, it seems that I am always in the kitchen. There is never a shortage of “I’m hungry’’ going around.

Now that life is all about being locked up 24-7, I have been struggling with ways to keep the boys fed and keep the diversity in meals going.

When all you have to do is eat, sit around, eat some more, and binge on Netflix, cooking turns into a chore and you get tired of the same old meals. Thanks to my secret listeners on Facebook, I had an ad pop up on my feed for a meal service called EveryPlate. It was advertising three meals with two servings each for less than $3.99 a plate. That was six meals sent to my house to make, for less than $40 including shipping!

I have always wanted to try a meal service, and with Oliver being so picky yet striving to provide him with the best choices, I opted to try this one out. Three months in with the service, and needless to say I am in love! I have been able to get multiple people sign up for the service (no pyramid scheme here), and they love it too!

Every Tuesday, I get my meals and ingredients sent to my door in a box with adequate packing and ice blocks to keep everything cold and fresh. In the box is the meals you pre-selected along with the recipes on how to prepare them. Every recipe comes with everything you need, starting with the meats, fresh produce, all the way down to the seasonings and herbs. Most of the time you just need to add your own flour or water and oil.

Because I have boys who can eat, we get 4 meals sent to our household each week. With the option to skip or cancel anytime, I am never in fear that I am locked down in some kind of contract. And no, I did not or am not getting paid to write this. Lol.

Just from one family to another, this has saved so much time and stress off of my hands and mind.

The recipes are ever changing and always top notch. Oliver, being my kiddo who has the allergies and pickiness, has enjoyed himself some bacon grilled cheese, chicken sausage tomato soup, and even Honey Chipotle chicken!

With it being such a risk to head out to the stores these days, this is such a great option to have your food delivered right to your door!

**Disclaimer** Other food/meal services available

Special Needs Diets: 10 Fun Foods for Puréed Eaters

Finding snacks or opportunities to incorporate extra calories is a bonus for special needs parents.

For most puréed eaters texture can be a challenge. For instance some pureed eaters can only handle the filling of a cheesecake, but not the crust.

Likewise consistency can also be difficult which can result in needing to either thin out the puree or thicken it up.

Here are 10 great fun foods that have the ability to be altered to meet the pureed consistency that are fun and easy to access at the grocery store.

1) Sour Cream

Sour cream if stirred will become more watery, if left in it’s original state will be the consistency of a Greek Yogurt.

The slight tang and tartness from sour cream will often inspire some children with special needs to explore the roof and sides of their mouth as they explore the taste with curiosity.

2) Ranch Dip

A lot of children typical and special needs gravitate towards the taste of ranch dressing.

It is one of the most universal dips for children. Ranch offers a host of mild seasoning that children enjoy.

Dip can be thick or thin and can generally pack some decent calories with a mayonnaise base.

Ranch is also easy to alter for children who are dairy free.

3) Chocolate Pudding

There are tons of chocolate puddings on the market, and it is also easy to make at home.

Chocolate pudding is fantastic for camouflaging liquid medication, it also absorbs extra calorie powder packets well, it is a motivational treat and provides those fun treat calories.

4) Hummus

Parents love treats that are good for you.

Hummus can be a lot of fun as it comes in a host of smooth flavors; red pepper, lemon, and original to name a few.

You can really add just about anything to hummus as it mixes well with most flavor combinations.

Hummus is also easy to make at home in your blender and stores well for several days.

5) Cheesecake

Cheesecake can be a great treat, but also requires knowing the texture and consistencies that work the best for your pureed eater.

Some pre-made cheesecake filings are more like puddings while New York style cheesecakes tend to be more dense and a little bit more thick.

However, cheesecakes are make for great desserts for the pureed eater.

6) Ice cream

The best part of ice cream is the flavor opportunities. Flavor combinations in ice cream are just as endless as the choices.

Ice cream comes in non-dairy, in plant based, in nut milk, and in sorbets.

You can find ice creams with some chunks, completely smooth or extremely chunky so make sure you know the consistency of your purchase to find the proper match for your child’s oral eating capabilities.

No matter what you chose ice cream seems to be a universal home run.

7) Cheese Sauce

Cheese sauce can often serve as a great appetizer if you are out at a restaurant and have a pureed eater. Many restaurants have cheese sauces on hand which are mixed into other dishes.

Cheese sauce can easily be thickened with a little bit of baby food rice or baby food oatmeal, or thinned easily with milk or water.

It gives your pureed eater the sense of participation while dining out.

8) Whipped Cream

Whipped cream has a light and fluffy texture which often is fun to practice lip closure or lip licking with the tongue.

Whipped cream can also be made easily at home or store bought and comes in dairy and non-dairy options.

It also stores well in the refrigerator for a few days or keeps well in the freezer.

9) Yogurt

Some of the easiest baby food pouches for oral eaters come in yogurt style.

Yogurts are also easy to find in a variety of consistencies for pureed eaters that either need thick or thin.

The flavor combinations are also abundant and experimenting with different flavors can be a lot of fun.

One of our favorites is pumpkin flavored!

10) Jelly (Jam if you’re in the UK)

When you think of Jelly feeding it to your pureed eater may not automatically come to mind. But jelly can make for a great breakfast or a great topper on yogurt, ice cream or pudding.

It can add extra calories while still keeping things healthy and diet friendly.

Make sure you look for jelly that has no chunks of fruit, and take note if your child has special dietary restrictions such as preservatives or sugar content.

We’d love to know what some of your favorite snacks and go to foods are for your pureed eaters!

Whole 30 for the Special Needs Parent

When it comes to food there are a host of issues, problems and challenges that come along with that for a special needs parent.

The universal theme is we simply don’t really have the time to adequately take care of ourselves, which includes our diet.

You’ll hear countless people preach, “You have to make time for yourself.”  This is not that blog.

I’m neither here to scold you or tell you how you need to treat yourself better.

It goes without saying we know we come last, and you know what?  We’re okay with that, because we know our children need and deserve to come first.

But in the back of our minds, especially as our children grow and get bigger, we have this little imaginary birdie that sits on our shoulder that says you’re not getting any younger and you’ve got to give your body a little tender loving care in order to go the distance for your child with special needs.

For some we’re inspired to dust off the elliptical and treadmill that has sat in the basement for over ten years that you contemplated selling in a garage sale.

For others it means trying to balance a better diet because you know there is no way you have extra time to exercise beyond lifting our children’s heavy adapted medical equipment.

No matter what route we decide to take towards preserving and bettering our bodies for the sake of our special needs children the point is we’re all exploring our options.

The really great thing about social media is that it often puts things in your field of vision that otherwise wouldn’t be there.

I don’t make new year’s resolutions, so my personal interest in self-preservation and health had nothing to do with the turn of a new year.

Perhaps an unwanted birthday milestone was headed my way that made me realize that I needed to start giving thought to things I really hadn’t before.

My strength, my continued endurance, both my physical and mental health – as special needs parenting can take its toll on both.

I was seeking clarity in my thoughts; calmness in the continual special needs storms, peace, comfort, and personal empowerment.

I wanted to start to attempt to achieve my personal physical best for my child.

This had nothing to do with being overweight or underweight, or measuring myself up against the hottest twenty something in a magazine.  Just being the best me.

Like anyone I am sure I could have stood to lose five to ten pounds of lingering baby weight (who are really kidding?.. I mean stress weight) but that that wasn’t at all my primary reason for searching out ways to find my personal physical best that I could be.

As I was touring through social media some long time friends had started a new diet plan called Whole 30.

Thanks Tim and Sarah… (as you deserve honorable mention).

I was intrigued.  Tim and Sarah were making these Facebook live videos.  I was reeled in with how happy and healthy they were looking.  In fact, they kind of glowed and I’m not even exaggerating.

They documented their entire 30 days – they made it appear not completely easy but absolutely doable.

And it looked like a diet that a special needs mom with a heavy load on her shoulders could easily do. And let’s face it. We all need easy or at least easier…

I bought the book and researched the rules.  There were lots of guidelines and for a brief second I thought this could be the impossible mission to be successful at.

But then I remembered that we’re full of beating the odds in families like ours.  A diet plan wouldn’t be any different.

In the beginning you might be a lot like me.  You might think it’s cost prohibitive, or you might think clean eating is going to be complicated and time consuming to plan menus and grocery shop for, you might be worried that you’ll be a raging lunatic without your chocolate and sugar in your coffee.

But after you get all those things out of your head, you’ll realize that even the most time-deprived special needs parent can do it.

So what is Whole 30 exactly?  It’s a diet plan that excludes potentially inflammatory foods and beverages from your diet.

This means no sugars or sweeteners, alcohol, grains, legumes, dairy, processed foods and beverages, baked goods, and junk foods that we all love to swipe off the shelves in pre-packaged containers.

It is eating three clean meals a day with simply as the name suggests; whole foods. Ingredients such as fresh berries and fruit, eggs, vegetables, and meat proteins, and approved nuts and oils and ghee.

In the beginning the big picture feels a lot more complicated than it turns out to be. You’ll quickly find that finding ways to eat a bit simpler isn’t as hard as you dreamed it would be.

The hardest part for me was probably condiments and coping with the fact that I’d have to give up creamer in my coffee.

But, I quickly found creative Whole 30 approved ways around that with different products that had never been on my field of vision before like grain free granola, NutPods, Red Barn almond milk and last but not least Tessamae’s line of amazing condiments.

Now in the beginning perhaps a few more dollars went to replacing things like traditional Heinz ketchup in the refrigerator and dumping all those sugar cubes in the trash…

but I had faith that I was headed towards an improved me that would be healthier and stronger to go the distance so that I could take care of my child with special needs for as long as humanly possible.

Thirty-days goes by so quickly. The first few days admittedly were not a bowl of cherries. I still craved things.

I still wanted a piece of my child’s Valentine’s Day candy, I still wanted my Starbucks indulgent coffee and ached for a cherry danish and a Lamar’s chocolate donut.

But my body and brain started to forget what I thought I was missing and after a full week I no longer wished or wanted any of it, even if it was within arm’s reach.

I started to notice I slept better, when my child was sleeping I was able to sleep.  Something, I haven’t been able to do in maybe years.

After he fell asleep even for brief moments of time throughout the night I would stay up contemplating all that could go wrong if I so much as blinked in the night, or going over all the day’s prior special needs difficulties and problems that I was unable to fix.

I noticed my skin get brighter, my dark under eye circles were starting to diminish, I felt like I actually had more energy, and I was able to manage those special needs roller coaster moods a tad easier.

Of course the tears still happen, as they will for most all special needs parents, it was easier to come out of those tears for an equal amount of smiles.

My aches and pains were significantly less, and my muscles felt as if they rebounded slightly faster from all that special needs lifting. And at the end of thirty days I had extra bonus of an eleven pound weight loss.

While my physical appearance didn’t likely look tremendously different since weight loss wasn’t the primary focus, I felt different.  I felt better.

It was as if I had detoxed all the bad foods and habits from my system.

After thirty days the decision is really yours to decide what foods you felt best eliminating from your diet.

You can chose to continue on, adapt to a more Paleo style way of eating, or re-introduce things like sugars and dairy again should you chose.

For me, I’ve found while I can handle the occasional treat, that my body now completely rejects most of what I gave up for thirty days.

And I feel sluggish both inside and out if I try to go back to bad eating habits.

But whether you chose to give Whole 30 a try for yourself or chose a different food plan that you feel is a better fit – the truth of the matter is food has a lot to do with our personal health so that we can continue to be strong in all the ways we need to be for our children with special needs.

So do some light research for yourself, find a food plan or diet that you think best matches your needs and lifestyle, try something new and different even if just for 30 days to see if you notice any changes in how you feel.

You may be pleasantly surprised at what a small change in diet can do.

Best EVER Gluten Free & Sugar Free Almond Flour Brownies

A couple years ago, I searched and searched the internet for a suitable flour and sugar-free chocolate cake or brownie recipe, that would be suitable for a beloved family member’s birthday whilst on their strict diet… Because I’m thoughtful like that 😉

After a couple days coming up blank, I stumbled upon this amazing recipe and have made these countless times since!

Thank you so much Teri for submitting this on your blog!

The Ingredients are as follows:

– 2/3 cup honey

– 1/2 cup melted butter or coconut oil

– 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

– 3 eggs

– 1 cup almond flour

– 1/2 cup cocoa

– 1/4 tsp. baking soda

– 1/4 tsp. sea salt (omit if using salted butter)

Basically just mix all these things together in a big bowl, it is super-quick to mix up a batch!

Bake for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees F/ 180 degrees C.

If you are not American and unfamiliar in baking with measuring “cups”, I highly recommend getting a set and trying it out. They are easily available on Amazon or online.

For this recipe, it’s a really quick way to get all your ingredients in the bowl with little fuss!

A few things that work well for me:

I use a silicon 8 x 8 inch square baking tray, with just a spray of oil.

I always opt for the butter instead of the coconut oil, but that’s just personal preference. (I mean who doesn’t LOVE butter?!)

I also prefer to blend up my own almonds to make the almond flour, as I like the slight texture it in turn gives the brownies.

I’ve used packaged almond flour too, the brownies are still good, they just don’t have that bit of coarse texture throughout.

You can easily make your own almond flour by quickly blending fresh whole almonds (no soaking needed) in your food processor or heavy duty blender such as a Vitamix or Blendtec.

So if someone you know is gluten free or avoiding sugar, give this healthier alternative of a brownie a go- I bet you won’t be disappointed!

If you’re anything like me, you’ll be pulling the recipe out, time and time again!

And, for a decadent, rich and sugary treat- these are really nice warm, with a scoop or two of vanilla ice-cream!

The kids and grown-ups alike will approve!

Skinny Peanut Butter Brownies

INGREDIENTS:

170g low fat or fat free natural Greek yogurt

60ml skimmed or almond milk

2 egg whites

1tsp baking powder

40g unsweetened cocoa powder

40g old fashioned rolled oats

180g peanut butter (mix the jar before you measure this out)

Sweetener – pick ONE of the following options:

200g granulated sugar

½ cup honey

85g brown sugar & 1/4  cup honey

85g granulated sugar & 80g dates

Preheat oven to 180c

Grease and line an 8” brownie tin

METHOD:

Place all ingredients except the peanut butter into a blender or food processor

Blend until mixture is smooth and oats are ground well.

Pour batter into brownie tin

Microwave peanut butter for approx. 30 seconds

Drop spoonfuls of melted peanut butter onto the batter & use a knife to swirl gently to create a marbled effect

Bake for 20-25 mins or until the brownies start to pull away from the sides of the tin

Wait until completely cool before removing from tin, ideally refrigerate for an hour before removing from tin.

If you want an extra special treat these can be eaten hot straight from the oven!

These will stay fresh at room temperature for 2 days and up to 5 days in the fridge. These freeze well for 2-3 months

5 Cooking Hacks for Special Needs Families

Most special needs families will also say that the hassles of eating out far outweigh the benefits.

Sometimes, though, you might consider cooking an unachievable goal.

You’re exhausted, your children need you and you definitely didn’t go to culinary school.

Check out these meal-prep shortcuts, and you’ll be able to turn out a delightful dish in record time!

Peel Tomatoes (and Potatoes) Quickly and Easily

While rushing to get dinner on the table, you probably say, “Next!” to any recipe that calls for peeled tomatoes or potatoes.

Now you don’t have to.

Cut a tiny X into the bottom of the veggies, place them into a pot of water, and boil until the X begins to widen.

Scoop them up, and submerge them immediately in a bowl of ice water until cool.

Then, start peeling from the X mark.

Juice Lemons and Limes More Effectively

To extract maximum juice, heat up your citrus fruits in the microwave for 20 seconds before you squeeze.

Free Corn Kernels

Kids and adults both enjoy fresh corn, but they know eating it off the cob is messy and messes with their teeth.

Now, you can use a bundt pan to remove kernels quickly.

Place the pan open-side up, set the stem side of the cob over the hole, and use a knife to shave kernels off from top to bottom. The hole in the pan acts like a holder, and the pan collects every kernel.

Slice Raw Meats With Ease

Slicing raw meat can be messy and frustrating if you don’t have a great knife or stellar knife skills.

Simplify this task by placing your meat in the freezer for 15-20 minutes before slicing.

Don’t worry you’re not actually freezing, it’s just enough time to make the meat more firm and stable.

Your knife will zip through with ease and little mess.

Easily De-Seed Pomegranates

Pomegranate seeds are nutritious and delicious in all kinds of dishes (or alone).

De-seeding a pomegranate can be tricky, though.

Here is the quick way to do it: Cut it in half, push down on the middle, and hit it with a wooden spoon.

Do this over a large bowl of water so you can easily remove the pith and simultaneously wash your hands.

Bonus hack: Want to serve birthday cake before a birthday boy or girl meltdown?

Cut it quickly and cleanly with a long strand of (unflavoured!) dental floss.

Position the floss across the cake where you want to slice, and pull both sides of floss down through the cake in a quick, even motion.

Release one side of the floss, and pull it slowly through with your other hand.

Happy birthday! (Use this method to slice brie, too.)

Sources:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Cut-a-Cake-With-Floss/

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/tools-products/14-surprising-uses-for-your-microwave/on-page-8

http://www.instructables.com/id/Deseed-Pomegranates-in-Seconds/

Feeding Your Child, “Real”, Food On a Pureed Diet

When your little one has multiple disabilities and lacks the ability to chew, seriously unique challenges are posed.

In fact, before we found our Ninja Blending System, mealtimes were completely stress-filled and would send me into a tailspin.

LUMPS…they were the dreaded culprit that almost always led to vomiting; thus ruining her entire eating experience.  Food aversions always followed and we’d have to mark off another food that our daughter would not tolerate.

“What is she going to eat?”  “How can she survive on only yogurt and applesauce?” and “How will she ever gain weight?” were questions I would beat myself up with on a daily basis.

Sure, store bought baby food was an option, but while convenient, it severely lacked taste, excitement and most importantly, calories.

They were virtually just bland vegetables and water.

Healthy, yes.  Substantial enough for a five year old, no.  We have always supplemented her diet with Pediasure, but we wanted her to take in plenty of REAL food as well.

When a child has growth restrictions, and an inability to chew, you really have to get creative.

Thanks to our awesome Ninja, I am able to transform everything from homemade lasagna to roast beef and potatoes into a lump-free meal that my daughter can enjoy.

Pasta with chicken and asparagus blend well with some water and a little olive oil for added calories.

Chicken and rice with mushrooms become a perfectly blended puree with the right amount of heavy cream added.

She LOVES to eat, and it brings me great joy providing healthy, calorie packed meals for her…her way.

We have a letter from her pediatrician on file at her school, requesting that the cafeteria puree her meals.  Sometimes, they get it right, and she is able to eat what her classmates are having for lunch.

Other times, to save her from having to endure a pureed hotdog (yuck!), I will prepare her lunch for school. Sweet potatoes with chicken, heavy cream, cinnamon and a dash of vanilla is one of her favorites.

Low muscle tone and poor coordination may have delayed her chewing ability, or possibly even permanently prevented it.

However, I don’t let that stand in her way.

I am grateful that she has the opportunity to relish wonderful things like spaghetti and meatballs.  I even sneakily hide squash and carrots in the sauce for extra nutritional punch, as the mother of a typical toddler would.

My daughter is a very special little girl, with a vast array of very special needs.  Food is an area that we can easily work around.

It does my heart good seeing her enjoy real food, even though she is on a pureed diet.

The Wonderful Benefits of Blending

From day 1 on tube feeding we knew we wanted to feed him a blended diet – real food, liquidised to go down his tube without blocking it.

However we had quite a battle initially persuading Sam’s clinical team to allow it.

Original guidelines stated only formula feed was suitable/acceptable for tube feeding – we argued, hard, that as his issues were not due to digestive malfunction, we should be allowed to give him the same food he’d had orally.

Despite initial resistance, the team soon came on board once they realised that we fully accepted the work involved.

We have never looked back!

In addition to the risk of blocking the tube, food safety is often cited as a reason why medical professionals are frequently reluctant to support a blended diet.

It’s more than just basic food hygiene, which as parents we already adhere to, but ensuring that feeds are cooked through thoroughly before being rapidly cooled and frozen within a very short time frame if they aren’t to be used immediately.

Once we signed various forms confirming that we accepted the risks (pretty much saying if the tube blocked or he became sick then it was our responsibility not the hospitals… fair enough), we were good to go.

Our dietician advised on a suitable blender to liquidise even the most tricky of foods – I give you the raspberry seed… perfectly sized by nature to block a PEG perfectly if not obliterated first – and off we went.

Although it is a lot more work than just making up a formula feed, the benefits of giving our boy real food are huge.

His reflux has improved, as has his digestive function (we reduced his Movicol from 4-6 sachets daily to 1-2).

We discovered certain foods worsened his seizures, so we just cut them out.

Despite the initial dire warnings about food hygiene and risk of infection, Sam has actually been healthier since starting blended feeds than he ever was on 100% formula… he just didn’t tolerate it.

And we haven’t had any feed-related blockages (just meds… gah!).

The food hygiene aspect can be quite intimidating initially but it really isn’t anything more than you would do anyway – making sure to store the food appropriately, hand washing and maintaining a clean kitchen all being the main areas to take care of.

We have a very supportive dietetics/gastro team so Sam’s meals are evaluated by his dietician periodically to ensure he’s getting the right stuff in the right amounts.

But for me the greatest benefit is seeing my child thriving, and being able to prepare his food like any mother.

It’s the little things like this that make such a difference to us special needs Mums.

After so much has been taken out of our hands it’s wonderful to be able to take back some of the tasks other parents take for granted.

Five Nutritional Challenges of Special Needs Children

Some of our children can’t eat all, while others can’t stop eating!

Below are five common nutritional challenges that children with special needs and their families face, along with a few suggestions that may help combat these issues.

1) Being Dangerously Underweight

Some children with special needs are underweight for a variety of reasons.

Some kids are just too sick and/or depressed to eat.

Others may have swallowing difficulties and others still may have metabolisms that burn their calories at a rate so fast that they just keep losing weight.

For these special kids a feeding tube and/or feeding therapy can prove to be life saving and life sustaining.

My initial introduction into what would become the first of many feeding problems for my daughter Bethany, was her total refusal to eat anything after her brain tumor surgery.

For weeks she was totally uninterested in eating anything other than breast milk. She began losing weight at an alarming rate!

Her doctor wanted to insert a feeding tube through her nose and down into her stomach to fill her tummy with life sustaining liquid nutrition!

I was afraid the formula would satisfy her hunger to the point that she would never want to eat again. Thankfully, my fears were unfounded!

After the feeding tube was placed, she gained weight, began to feel better and became interested in eating real food once again!

2) Obesity

Some kids with special needs lead very sedentary lives and as a result become overweight.

Children confined to wheelchairs or those who have limited mobility and can’t get much exercise may have a hard time maintaining a healthy weight.

Getting our kids moving as much as possible, providing healthy fruits and veggies as snacks, and limiting sweets and chip consumption can help inactive children keep their weight down.

Bethany suffered with an extreme seizure disorder and spent twelve years unable to do anything more physically taxing than walking from her bedroom to the bathroom and over to the couch to lie down.

Needless to say, through no fault of her own, her inactive lifestyle caused her to gain some weight.

When a new medication decreased the number of seizures she had, Bethany was able to be more active and it was easier for her to maintain a more healthy weight.

3) Picky Eaters

Many children with special needs, especially those on the autism spectrum and those with sensory issues are extremely picky eaters!

Some children will only eat certain textured foods, while others may only eat foods of a certain taste or color!

With diets like that, malnutrition is a valid concern.

Offering rewards for trying new foods might help.

If you suspect your child’s eating problem is a sensory issue than  a consult with an Occupational Therapist might be in order.

In any event, picky eaters don’t get total nutrition from their food, so they need to take a good multivitamin!

Bethany gets on these month long stints where she eats nothing but one thing over and over and over again for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

She rotates between pasta with tomato sauce, bean tacos, salads, and just plain old cucumbers!

A multivitamin and mineral supplement is a must in order for Bethany to be as healthy as possible!

4) Medication side effects

Many of our children with special needs experience medication side effects that can cause increases or decreases in their appetites.

If you suspect that a medication is causing your child’s eating challenges, I urge you to research all possible side effects and report your findings to your child’s doctor.

It may be that another medication can be substituted.

Unfortunately though, sometimes doctors believe the benefit of a medication outweighs any side effects it may cause.

If your child is in this situation, keeping him or her as active as possible and providing low calorie meals and snacks is your best bet for managing medication weight gain.

Topamax, one of Bethany’s seizure medications, literally made her stop eating. She lost so much weight that she became dangerously thin.

So we tried switching her medication to Depakote, which then made her gain so much weight that she was well on her way to becoming obese!

We had to switch her to yet another medication which thankfully helped control her seizures as much as the others had and did not effect her appetite at all!

5) Genetics

Some specific disorders in and of themselves can cause nutritional problems for kids with certain conditions and place them at a higher risk for obesity.

Among such disorders are: Down syndrome, Spina Bifida, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Prader-Willi syndrome, Cohen syndrome, Carpenter syndrome, Borjeson syndrome and MOMO syndrome.

For disorder specific nutritional challenges, I would suggest googling and consulting with your child’s doctors and therapists.

Whatever our children’s specific nutritional challenges may be, I cannot stress enough the value of keeping our kids as active as possible, filling them up with healthy fruits and veggies and keeping track of their calorie consumption!