The Taming of the Hunger Monster

We have all met the Hunger Monster. Chances are, we've all felt his wrath from others, too. Taming the Hunger Monster is an important part of living a quality life with quality health. Understanding how to do that is the trick.  I wrote a blog in September titled, “Sometimes the World Really Does Revolve Around Food.”  In it, I explain the importance of meal timing on behavior and blood sugar. I focused the topic around the start of the school year and that late-morning and late-afternoon melt downs may be due to the time between meals.

This morning, as I was working on writing a chapter for an upcoming book (or rather, as I was dealing with my writer’s block), I found this article in my in box:

“Watch out for 'food swings' when hunger, anger collide”

The article does a nice job of explaining the physiology behind the meltdowns that happen from not eating. I’ve lovingly nicknamed the behavior related to low blood sugar, “the hunger monster.” As you read the article, consider the following:

• How does the hunger monster effect your ability to provide positive support to your child, students, or the person you work with?
• How does the hunger monster effect your ability to listen to others?
• How does the hunger monster effect you when learning something new?
• How does the hunger monster effect you when people ask you to do things?

Eating a balanced meal – even when losing weight – every 3-5 hours is an important tool in the support toolbox. It doesn’t matter if you are providing or receiving support. If you are hungry, with no plans to eat soon (or with no idea when you will be able to eat), the hunger monster will take over.

Taming the Hunger Monster and reaching health goals can feel overwhelming, whether it's for you, your students, or people you support. It's an primary piece of the coaching I provide. We can tame the Hunger Monster, which changes behavior - for you and your child or person you support.

Quality lives, quality health, in a connected commuinity - one that doesn't included the Hunger Monster.

Please note: I am transitioning my blog to this site. The September blog mentioned was published on my old blog site and is posted below.

Sometimes the world really does revolve around food.

Posted September 20, 2010

It started a few weeks ago. The new schedule. School. The School Schedule. The first week wasn't so bad. It was early, but the kids were excited, or curious, to begin a new school year. Of course you met with the teacher and support staff ahead of time. Everyone shared notes, pictures, updates on the summer. The school nurse obtained any medications your child might need. You sent the special items that many students with disabilities need or that you borrowed for home use over the summer. And you filled out that enormous pack of papers that comes home with each student. It seems to grow as you fill it out. Whew. The start of school is over. Just as you start to think things might be going well, you begin to notice some things that are unsettling:

The tone of the notes from the teacher seems more tense.

Your child is grumpy when he returns from school.

Your child is really tired once he gets home and wants to go to bed before dinner (sometimes that doesn't seem bad, but...).

You run into another Mom who mentions an incident at school that seems so unlike your child.

You learn your child has been irritable mid-morning and overly sleepy after lunch.

What in the world?!? First, take a deep breath. We may be able to do just a little detective work to figure this out. Here are a few questions:

1. What time did your child get out of bed?
2. When was breakfast?
3. When did the bus come?
4. When does the bus arrive at school?
5. When does class begin?
6. When is Lunch?
7. What time does the bus leave?
8. What time does your child arrive home?

Here's another set of questions for the teacher (or for you to derive from the notes coming home):

1. When does the student begin to show signs of being off task?
2. What are those signs?
3. What happens after lunch?

Here is the theory. No matter how hard you plan, your child may be going too long between meals. For the most part, students in K-8 should be eating every three to four hours. Never more than five hours between meals without a snack. I cannot tell you how many IEP/Team meetings I have attended, both for my son and for others, during which meal and snack timing has been a hidden issue that I bring out to the open. Somehow it is the most basic things we overlook at times. Remembering to look at a child's day as a whole, rather than "my part" and "their part" of the day is essential. It's true we cannot cater to every child's whims. We can, however, create accommodations to assist the schedule and a child's biological needs to work together rather than against each other. The trick is, when a child has disabilities, the time involved in getting ready for school and getting to school, can sometimes be the time between meals! Here is an example from my own experiences:

• Andy is up at 6:30.
• Breakfast is at 6:45.
• Dressed, teeth brushed, and ready to go by 7:15. (yes, we did most of that for him)
• The bus is scheduled to arrive at 7:30. We're ready.
• The bus is late.
• I call the "Bus barn."
• The bus arrives. It's 8:15.
• Andy arrives at school at 9:00
• Lunch is at 11:15.

How long did he just go between breakfast and lunch? Almost 5 hours. It's no wonder he's grumpy before lunch and sleepy after. His blood glucose has dropped way low because he is biologically hungry. When fed, the body tends to shut down and want to relax a bit before rebooting after being so low. If your school has strict rules about eating in the classroom, this is a reasonable accommodation for your child. For some students, the time delay is due learning life skills: dressing, brushing teeth, packing the back pack. It can take an hour to accomplish those tasks - tasks that take children without disabilities minutes to do when they're in the mood. Remember. Starting the school year is hard. It takes tome to notice even the most simple things. Look for the simple, most normal things first. Hunger can be one of them! If all it takes is a 20 minute snack time to reduce behavior and create a positive learning environment, that's a good thing! What to send for snack is a blog for another day.