food issues

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Hi everyone;

My daughter is 15 and we are on the path to getting a diagnosis. She has been fixated on eating potato chips from a very young age, and would almost go into a "trance" when eating them. She has agonized for years over her love of chips and being unhealthy. Her pediatrician recently suggested to her that she stop cold turkey. That comment has set off many, many sessions of high anxiety and she says over and over again that just eating a serving size of chips every day will make her crazy and unable to have a happy life. I'm at my wit's end with how to help her, and since we haven't seen the doctor yet who will help with a diagnosis, I feel lost. Please help!

There are a variety of natural-style chips out there that aren't as bad as you might think. Veggie chips is one such example. There are also organic potato chips on the market. Also, chips that are baked and not fried are also said to be better.

I love chips myself, chips and pretzels, even more so than sweet stuff. But I wouldn't say that I'd go into a trance upon eating them.

- Ray M -

I notice so many young kids love french fries. So its easy to see how your
kid loves chips(the same thing maybe less water). I thought if they invented a
healthy french fry that would solve the problem. Maybe a chip cooked in a
good oil and salted with less NaCl and more KCl would be a good start.
Maybe a light olive oil(without the strong olive oil taste) would be good.
Maybe you and your daughter could experiment with home chip production.
Turn a nightmare into a heathy solution and a bussiness.

around here they also sell seasoned apple chips~there's granny smith, and cinnamon.... you need to help her help herself...can you have her help decide how many servings she can have per day~1x day, 2x day or 3x day and only give her a choice of 1,2, or 3.( single serve portions)?

Would she be more comfortable tapering off slowly rather than just stopping cold? And maybe sampling one small taste of a healthy substitute every few days?
I think the idea someone had of making them at home with healthier ingredients sounds excellent. She may really enjoy trying that.

Harvest Cheddar Sunchips to me are like the tasty healthy version of Doritoes.

Question. What kind of chips does your daughter prefer? Then we might have more suggestions as to types which might be healthier but mimic her favorites in taste. And then SLOWLY start cutting her down. That doctor is an imbecile for recommending cold turkey. He clearly has no experience in addictions.

Cut the chips down minimally, substituting with healthier foods, either healthier chips but also other kinds of foods. You'll have to be firm though and not allow her access to the chips easily. Also reward her (not with chips) for successfully cutting down. You need to reward her good behavior like you would if you were potty training a toddler. (Throughout the lifespan, humans never change; we always respond to reward and punishment. We're just predictable that way.)

The mind is a wonderfully maleable thing. With time she can be weaned. But make sure that you lessen her amounts very gradually. The more gradual the less she'll react to having her "rations" cut.

She's addicted to the release of opioids that comes as a result of eating the chips. Maybe that's why she gets the 'glazed' look.

She's an addict. But what can you do.

My son pretty much only eats cheese & onion pizza (dominos - not sliced), yoghurt (no bits) and rice crispies. All of these things have the same effect on him.

Could you try her with gluten free chips of some description to see if they have the same addictive effect on her. If you can get hold of something like this and tell her she can have as much of these as she likes then maybe that would be good.

I know it won't be much fun for her but it's worth persevering because she may feel a lot better day to day as well as being healthier in the long run.

I am trying to do a dietary intervention for my son over the summer holidays. Pray for me!

She may actually be having some OCD type issues - especially if it is a repetitive behavior and she feels compelled to eat the chips even if she doesn't want to (and if they are the same types of chips). It is not compulsive eating as in an overeating disorder - although eating issues and OCD often go together. Also the "glazed" look can come from the temporary relief of anxiety. I am not trying to label your daughter or anything but it is not a normal anxiety for her to feel that she must eat the chips and yet feel even more anxiety after the feeling of relief has worn off. And if it is due to some OCD behaviors than she may just move from chips onto another food or compulsive behavior to reduce anxiety even if she manages to stop eating the chips.

One of the issues though is even if these kids are "addicted" to these foods (which may or may not be the case) - why did that happen in the first place. I am not sure about all these dietary interventions especially if there is no support for the person to reduce anxiety. You may really be removing their only comfort net and if they are not addicted to the food but doing it because of other food intolerances or OCD or sensory issues. I eat a limited diet due to different issues like sensory ones, and avoid things like milk and almost all dairy, and because of that it may appear that I gravitate towards certain foods. I don't think it has anything to do with gf/cf. I think the sensory aspect is often not addressed enough when parents look into repetitive eating also. Just something to consider and I don't know how effective substitutes for food are because they are not the same.

How does the addiction start? Do yo mean how does it come to pass?

My son ate pretty much anything until he was about 2 1/2. At that point he refused all of his meals which he used to enjoy and had loads of meltdowns because he was so hungry. I was tearing my hair out because it's sickening when your child refuses to eat for days on end. I then offered him cereal instead because I was worried that I could not let him out of the house if he had not eaten lunch because someone would get hurt when he went to pre-school. So he ended up eating cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He really put his foot down. He quickly switched that to pizza for the most part.

It's not something I want to do but I have to try to get him to eat different things so that he doesn't get sick.

nomoreality~can you sneak veggies into the pizza ? even if they're pureed into the sauce ?

From the time she was a baby starting on solid foods my daughter went through food obsessed stages. At one point for weeks on end all she would eat was applesauce.

She still goes through stages now and she's almost 13.

All I can suggest that is this too will pass eventually. As my daughters therapist has said many times: she may never outgrow the obsession but she can learn to deal with it more effectively.

I have the same trouble. My son was weaned onto fruits and veg and cereals (we're strict veggies), and loved them. Then he suddenly decided to eat only crap!. This happened between 2 and 3 years of age. Now he's a vegan and basically all he'll eat is white bread, Alphabites (frozen potato shapes), vegan ice-cream, veggie sausages, and ready salted crisps. His squash has to be a certain brand, as does all his food.
He's diagnosed with Aspergers, is 9 years old, and is VERY overweight. I'm sure he's addicted to bread (he'll eat endless amounts if allowed) but if I take it away his choices will be so limited, and if he gets hungry (as he'd rather starve than eat veggies now) he's horrible and we can't live like that . All very worrying.

I make my own potato chips with a fryer. I leave the skins on the potatoes as they are high in nutrients; I slice the potatoes very thinly and put them in the fryer until crisp, then after removing them I sprinkle them with salt. Why not encourage her to make her own chips-- this way they are free of artificial flavors, coloring, perservatives, and she can experiement with different kinds of potatoes, like yams (which technically are not potatoes, I know...). The fryer I have cost about $50 from Lowes.

Thanks everyone, great advice! Walk in the Rain, your info was especially helpful. Thanks again

Brain chemistry aside, do you know if she gets more satisfaction from the texture or crunchiness the chips offer, or is it the flavor? What about offering foods like popcorn? Someone earlier suggested pretzels.