Kid is obsessed with food

amother

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 7:20 am

What should I do for my 10 year old son who has an unhealthy obsession with food ?
And im not talking about junk food. This kid dreams of techina and salad and avocado. He loves healthy foods. The second he's done lunch he's busy dreaming about what he'll eat for supper. He talks about food with a reverence all day. When he sees food he gets so excited he will literally knock over anything in his way while he runs to get it. He comes home from school and asks what's for supper in an obsessed way. Taking him to a grocery store is a disaster he's busy running all over the store in a frantic way asking to buy this and that. Olives and sushi and a ready made salad...he isn't asking for junk. If I say no he pleads and begs and then says he'll pay for it with his own money. I promise you he isn't starving. I feed him. He eats insane portions. But it's never enough and he is completely obsessed with food. He isn't overweight. Just slightly plump. But still average. His older brother went to a bar mitzva and when he came home the 10 year old asks what did they serve ? All excited. Did they have sushi? Did they serve meat ? Drooling. When I ask him why he needs to know he says I just want to know what I missed out on..
He literally thinks about food all day. What can I do for this ?

amother

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 7:31 am

Interesting enough...most of my kids do have ADHD but this boy specifically doesnt..
Can a kid have certain symptoms of ADHD but not all the classic symptoms? He's calm pretty easy going quiet nature usually not hyper or in constant motion at all.

amother

Peony

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 7:51 am

Sounds like a leptin deficiency possibly. In addition to making people not feel full, it causes them to think and dream about food all day.
But cortisol/adrenal issues can cause similar, as well as dopamine/serotonin imbalance.
Also possibly yeast, parasites or other forms of gut dysbiosis.

amother

Cinnamon

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 8:00 am

amother Peony wrote:

not op but how can I check this out

Queen Of Hearts

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 8:02 am

Dunno what the issue is but your son sounds adorable. Is he?
As an other poster wrote, he may be a budding chef.
Maybe you can humor him in this? And not fight it. Maybe allow him a in the kitchen a bit. Maybe give him a kids cookbook as a present. Maybe let him watch some cooking shows.
Sometimes by fighting an obsession it can make the ‘forbidden’ more alluring.

amother

Copper

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 8:11 am

I have only seen kids with a food obsession when different types of food have been limited at some point.
Limiting children’s food causes them to crave food in an unhealthy way and leads to obesity.
Even if the parents have good intentions and try to withhold sweets, fats or limit portion size it will eventually cause the child to have an unhealthy relationship with food.
If all foods have been allowed and the child grew up with a well rounded diet, meaning healthy food and junk food was available they will actually usually choose the sliced fruits and vegetables over the candy.
Don’t obsess over his love of food and make sure there are all types of food available to satisfy his hunger.

amother

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 8:18 am

He's definitely adorable! But his obsession with food actually worries me...its taken over his whole life. He has no interest in cooking. All his siblings help out in the kitchen and he would rather play outside. He only wants to eat the food.
One of the issues I have now is school lunch. School provides lunch and he has no problem with the food. The problem is its not gourmet enough for him. So every day he wants to prepare himself lunch to take to school and I say no because school has lunch which he likes. I dont want this becoming a trend where every day he takes a 10 dollars worth of lunch to school (mushrooms avocado etc,)
I have another kid who is so picky he'd rather starve than eat the school lunch so for some reason I have no issue with him grabbing some bread and cheese from the house to take to school. But this kid will eat the school lunch no problem. He simply wants fancier and spends every morning preparing fancy lunches. To me its about the obsession not about what he's actually eating.
Should I be just allowing it? Stop fighting the obsession?
Honestly I can't put my finger on it but something is wrong.

the world's best mom

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 8:22 am

amother Copper wrote:

Well, I have met many many people who never had any food withheld and still have a food obsession and are obese. Some people are picky eaters and won't touch fruits or vegetables.

Simple1

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 8:26 am

Honestly, the school lunch is junk. Avocados and mushrooms seems like a healthier choice. My kids eat the school lunches for convenience, but in your case I wouldn’t fight it. You said he doesn’t like cooking but in this case, he is preparing the food?

Last edited by Simple1 on Mon, Apr 24 2023, 8:27 am; edited 1 time in total

mfb

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 8:26 am

amother OP wrote:

If money isn’t an issue maybe let him prepare himself once a week his own lunch and then the rest of the week he has to have school lunch. And let him choose every week which day he wants to do it. Also don’t help him it should be his own job.

amother

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 8:35 am

amother Copper wrote:

He would rather eat salad than sweets or pasta and cheese . The only limiting I do with food is making sure that everyone leaves enough for their siblings! Such as no you cannot take a third helping because there won't be enough for everyone. This kid specifically though actually worries me with how obsessed he is. Dreams about food.
Is there some sort of emotional component to this ? Or should I be looking into what peony said? Leptin? Chemical imbalances ?

amother

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 8:41 am

amother Peony wrote:

How do you check this out ? What does this mean ?

giftedmom

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 9:19 am

I would only worry if he was actually binging and at an unhealthy weight. 10 is peak age for growth regardless so it makes sense for him to be hungry a lot. If it’s only the obsession then I’d give it some time. Let him have his avocado and mushrooms! So healthy for a growing boy.

amother

Peony

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 9:30 am

amother Copper wrote:

Peony, What’s a leptin deficiency?

Exactly what it sounds like, a deficiency in the neuro hormone leptin that plays a huge role in the hunger/satiety feedback loop.

In very rare cases this is congenital/genetic. More commonly, it’s caused by issues like gut dysbiosis, hpa axis dysfunction, mold toxicity, inflammation etc.

Early research on a pair of twins missing the gene for leptin found that not only did they eat incessantly, but they also loved talking about food, prepping food, thinking about what they will eat, etc.