April 30, 2009
Meal Planning, Food and Diet
Question from Maine, USA:
My son has had type 1 since he was 29 months old. Since then, or maybe before, his appetite has increased and decreased normally with his growth. What has changed is the range of foods he will eat and we are getting down to Doritos, bacon, McDonald’s french fries, toast, dry sweet cereal and sometimes YoBaby. He does very well with drinking though so we continue to give him whole milk and juices in an attempt to make up some of what he’s not getting with a wider (healthier) range of foods. When confronted with something new or something he used to like, he would rather go without which we try to avoid, so it’s back to bacon and fries. Do you have an suggestions on increasing his appetite and or trying to reintroduce some of the foods he used to eat and like? My parents would say to me “go hungry for a while, a hungry boy will eat anything.” Unfortunately, diabetes will not allow for this type of approach.
Answer:
I’d recommend you consult your diabetes team’s dietitian for some advice. Bring in a three-day food record that documents everything he eats and the quantities he eats, which will help you make the most of that visit. In the meantime, introduce a “no-thank-you bite” into each meal. This means that you introduce one new food (he seems to like crunchy/salty, so try something that is crunchy and salty but not bacon or Doritos) that he must taste. Then, he can say “no thank you” and begin to eat his preferred foods or if he likes it, you can add that new food to his repertoire. He does not get the preferred foods until he’s tried this new food (one bite of it).
JWB
