FOOD INTOLERANCE NETWORK
FACTSHEET
PLEASE DON’T
FEED MY CHILD
Chris’s mother had finally discovered that her son’s
behaviour was related to what he ate, but found she couldn’t keep Alex on his
new diet without support at school. So she decided to write a plea for help.
“I was a bit scared to put it in the school newsletter
as it was fairly honest and I did feel exposed,” she said. She was surprised by
the results. So many parents congratulated her on the change in Chris, or
reported when he was cheating, or shared stories of their own children’s diet
problems with her, that she decided the risk of telling the story was
outweighed by the benefits and has given permission for her story to be quoted
here in the hope that it will help others. This is what Chris’s mother wrote
for her school newsletter:
“You
probably all know Christopher W (in Ms G’s class). He tends to be a child that
you can’t miss and who is very in your face. He also tends to evoke strong
emotional reactions – people either love him or hate him. There isn’t much room
for middle ground with Chris.
When Chris
was born he was a big, boofy boy. For the first six month of his life he was a
placid, calm, happy child. At six months, he changed to being very, very
active, fidgety and demanding. Looking back at that time, three things changed
– he started long daycare, solids and formula. I also remember very clearly
that his face changed as big dark circles and creases formed under his eyes. He
was labelled ‘naughty, disruptive, hyperactive and violent’ by daycare when he
was only 10 months old. He was walking at that stage and continued to escape
from the childproof room, or to snatch toys from non-mobile babies.
Since that
time he has been variously diagnosed by health professionals as having
Tourette’s Syndrome, the hyperactive type of ADHD, Oppositional Defiant
Disorder and others. Whatever the term, the symptoms are the same, including
unmanageable behaviour, poor impulse control, loud voice, vocal tics, word and
phrase repetition and lack of empathy.
Coupled with
the behaviour has also been a range of other medical problems including croup,
asthma, headaches and stomach aches, unexplained temperatures and eczema. Chris
also suffers from glue ear and for the last four years has had grommets
inserted every winter to enable him to hear clearly. (As I know now, these are
all indicative of food intolerance.)
Last year I
took Christopher to a paediatrician, looking for a solution to his constant
illness rather than his behaviour. The doctor took one look at him – he was
making duck noises and running in circles around the waiting room – and
diagnosed food intolerances.
We went home
with a complex list of foods to avoid. Although his health improved, his
behaviour seemed to become worse, as it always has in summer. Just before
Christmas, I found the
I switched
the family to the RPA exclusion diet during the holidays. Gradually, as we
removed foods from the diet and found acceptable replacements, Christopher’s
behaviour improved. Living with him became easier, there were less sibling
fights, and when he did misbehave it was easy to use normal parenting
techniques to modify behaviour – something that had never worked before.
By the end
of the summer holidays, I finally had a calm, reasonable, sensitive child, who
was able to play at other children’s places without causing mayhem, would look
at people when talking, and would allow other people to talk without
interrupting. Amazingly, Chris was keen to stick to the diet, having realised
how good he felt.
First day
back at school and I had lots of positive comments about how calm or grown-up
Christopher seemed. A good start to the year. However, as I write this, I am
back to having a child who runs around making chicken noises, uses a loud
voice, is prone to crying and is violent and aggressive. What happened? He got
to school and started to cheat. He ate chocolate cake, m&m’s, muesli bars
and lollies. For him, even the smallest amount results in a reaction. It is
like being on a trip – he can’t control his behaviour, and trying to discipline
him has no effect.
So what do I
need, or more importantly, what does Christopher need? He needs the support of
the school community to assist him to stay on his diet – he needs recognition
for the fact that he does suffer from food intolerances – he desperately wants
to feel in control of his life, and he likes feeling calm and relaxed, so
please, please, please don’t feed my child, or encourage him to cheat. It will
now take at least a week, probably longer, for him to come ‘down’ from this
latest reaction.
I also want
to let the community know that as part of this elimination diet, he will be
going through controlled challenges this year where he will be tested for the
effects of various food chemicals. This will mean that he will have periods
where he does react and his behaviour will deteriorate again.
There are a
number of children in our community who suffer from food intolerances and
allergies – each child has different requirements and reactions, but all of
them need our support.”
www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info
The information given is not intended as medical advice. Always consult
with your doctor for underlying illness. Before beginning dietary investigation,
consult a dietician with an interest in food intolerance.
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