Junk food addiction

[EmmaNZ]

Has anybody dealt with this kind of thing in a preteen? Addictive-type behaviours over junk food (crisps, sweets, fizzy drinks). This has gone beyond a bit of sneaking food now.

 

Any thoughts or ideas of where to go from here?

 

ETA: I realised I might need a translation of the types of food! Chips/candy/soda for my American friends :)

[maize]

Well...between the ages of 9 and 12 I went through a significant growth spurt and was hungry all.the.time.

 

I would sneak sugar in any form I could get it.

 

Once I stopped growing the food cravings tapered off.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Junk food is so prevalent here that I wonder if what you are calling an addiction would even raise an eyebrow with many Americans.

But that is just a guess. 

 

With a preteen, I think the best you can do is not have any of it in the house.  What they do outside of the house is obviously harder to control. 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Does the child believe he has a problem?  Is the child open to discussions?  Can the family embark on a cleaning-up-our-eating mission together?  Would the child be on board for that?

[Garga]

None in the house and lots of alternatives that are easy to grab and go, like apples or carrot sticks or cheese sticks or whatever. Growing people get the munchies. If it's not in the house, they can't eat it. I have to clear out the junk food for myself from time to time. :) If it's there, I can't seem to stop sneaking bits of it.

 

Right now, I'm trying to stay away from the Easter candy, so I am keeping some caprese salad in the fridge that I can munch on from time to time and I've been making myself eat an apple before I eat any chocolate. Often, once I eat the apple, I have the strength of will to forego the chocolate.

 

For kids--get rid of all the junk in the house.

Edited May 8, 2017 by Garga

[crazyforlatin]

Part of it was my fault because when you have a kid with a nut allergy you tend to overcompensate by buying extra cookies and candies that are allergen free. I stopped it about 2 weeks ago by buying a lot of dates. Whenever DD is craving sweets she can get a date.

[Jean in Newcastle]

A growing kid who doesn't have enough protein can turn to simple carbs for energy.  I would make sure that there is protein at every meal and snack. 

[OneStepAtATime]

Exactly how bad and what exactly are the "addiction" behaviors?

 

1.  They may be heading into a growth spurt and have hunger cravings.  Provide a lot of healthy, filling snacks that are easily accessible.

2.  Having junk food in easy reach is going to make it harder to combat.

3.  Is there any possibility that they have hypoglycemia?

4.  Have you had an exam with a pediatrician to rule out health issues?  Mental or physical (depression/anxiety can sometimes trigger excessive snacking for instance)?

5.  Have you talked with them about why they are trying to eat so much junk food?

6.  How nutritionally fulfilling and developmentally appropriate are the main meals and how well do they eat during those meals?

[maize]

One thing that contributed in my case was a mis-match in frequency of food needs between my mom and I. Mom is not a snacker--she feels best if she only eats at meals. I can't go more than two hours without eating during the day without my blood sugar dropping. I tend to graze throughout the day rather than eating large meals.

 

Possibly this child needs more frequent snacks; ideally including protein and healthy fats.

[Artichoke]

None in the house and lots of alternatives that are easy to grab and go, like apples or carrot sticks or cheese sticks or whatever. Growing people get the munchies. If it's not in the house, they can't eat it. I have to clear out the junk food for myself from time to time. :) If it's there, I can't seem to stop sneaking bits of it.

 

Right now, I'm trying to stay away from the Easter candy, so I am keeping some caprese salad in the fridge that I can munch on from time to time and I've been making myself eat an apple before I eat any chocolate. Often, once I eat the apple, I have the strength of will to forego the chocolate.

 

For kids--get rid of all the junk in the house.

 

Having healthy snacks ready to go is a great deterrent.  If you go this route of getting rid of all of the junk,  please think about tapering off the amounts instead of just going cold turkey.  Maybe give the healthier options first with x amount being eaten and then giving a sweet or soda.  

[AK_Mom4]

when my preteens and teens (and young adults!) are hungry, they will eat the easiest thing available.

 

Junk food is usually easier - less prep.  But if healthy food is available and easy, they eat that.

 

So the trick for healthy eating here is to have the healthy stuff be "easy".  Precut veggies, bowls of popcorn, cold water in a pitcher in the fridge - that sort of thing.

 

For a preteen who I was worried was "addicted" to junk, I would get rid of junk food in the house and double-up on making healthy food easier to obtain.  And yeah - that means no junk for anyone for a while until the preteen gets retrained.

[kewb]

No junk in the house, for anyone.  No one needs it anyway.  If we want ice cream we have to go to the ice cream shoppe.  It helps determine if you really want the ice cream. No soda in the house, no chips, no candy.  Have the healthy snacks already prepared-celery and and carrot sticks ready to grab and go, for example.  

[Katy]

Some people simply cannot genetically handle processed foods.  Foods that hit my bliss points I will eat nothing else until they are out of the house. I'm currently reading a book from a bariatric surgeon that believes obesity and binge eating has nothing to do with overeating or gluttony and everything to do with our set points.  He thinks that the approximately 30% of people who get obese are disproportionately affected by processed foods.  It raises their set point, so they get hungry and eat more.  When they eat more vegetables (at least a pound per day) and avoid processed foods, their set point lowers, and they can lose weight easily, without counting calories or exercising.  This makes sense to me because several times in my life I went on medications that made me gain weight.  After I went off of them I can diet the weight away, but I get really hungry unless I'm within 10% of my highest weight.  His diet plan seems to be working for me in terms of controlling my hunger, but I haven't been on it long enough to know how it will change my weight.

 

He is certain it's a set point thing because the only other thing he's seen lower set points is bariatric surgery.  He also said that frequently his clients aren't gluttons - most of them ate about 40-50 extra calories a day for 20 years.  That is less than a slice of bread. It's less than an hour of fidgeting. But dieting fails because they get slow, they get hungry, and they get an uncontrollable urge to binge.  He says this isn't a moral failing, it's a physiological effect of processed food.

 

A few weeks after surgery with new, lower set points all his patients come in - temperature several degrees higher, with a bounce in their step and exaggerated arm swings, as if their bodies have realized they have a lot of fat to burn so it cranks up their metabolism, makes them extra bouncy, and gets rid of their appetite.

 

Anyway, he says that the plant-based or lean paleo diet he recommends has the same effect on your metabolism as surgery, it simply takes months to adjust your setpoint lower instead of weeks. If you're interested, his name is Dr. Matthew Weiner, he has an extensive YouTube channel of videos on these topics, as well as a book called  A Pound of Cure.