Limiting Snacks
“My son is obsessed with snacks,” commented a dad of a young man with autism. “Because he is gaining an inordinate amount of weight, we would like to limit his snacks. But all our efforts have led to explosive behavior and to his sneaking out into the kitchen to steal bags of chips or cartons of ice cream, trying to hide them in his room. We need some ideas to help curb the amount of calories he consumes eating snacks.”
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SPECIFIC STRATEGY This might be one of those times you will need to take a tough stand for the sake of your son’s health and for peace in your home. Probably the two more pressing issues are (1) to cut calorie consumption, and (2) to decrease explosive behavior and stealing. Just as with any “cold turkey” behavior management strategy, you can help decrease the agitation and frustration by approaching the situation in a positive manner. So here are some ideas:
+ CUT CALORIES. (1) The only way to effectively decrease intake of high-calorie foods it to simply remove them from the house. Without any comments, announcements, or fanfare, simply quit purchasing cookies, ice cream, chips, sugared pop, candy, and other snacks that are piling on the calories that contribute to your son’s weight gain. (2) The other critical step in cutting calories is to decrease the size of portions. Even lower-calorie snacks can add weight if eaten in large quantities. Rather than having a big box of snack crackers or seasoned pretzels on the shelf, break the package into small portions. The smaller snack-sized zip-lock bags work well for this.
+ MINIMIZE AGITATION AND EXPLOSIVE BEHAVIOR. Rather than approaching this new strategy in a negative light, present a fun new plan. For example, you might avoid saying things like, “You are getting fat, so you need to quit eating ice cream,” or “You don’t get any more Oreos until you have lost five pounds,” or “No more snacks for you, young man. They are making you fat and ruining your dinner,” or “Starting tomorrow, you are going on a diet. No more ice cream or cookies for you.” Instead, you might try something like this, “Guess what! Starting tomorrow, you get to have a GREAT SNACK ADVENTURE! You get to pick out a snack every single hour. EVERY time the clock strikes the top of the hour, you get to pick a yummy snack from this box.” Then show him the box filled with 18 snack-sized ziplocks filled with a variety of goodies. The choices could include a micro-wave popcorn packet and a zip-lock with a coupon for two scoops of sugar-free ice cream. Then follow through with your plan. He consistently gets to pick out a snack every single hour even if he gets a snack five minutes before dinner or if he wants to save a sack for later. HINT: To make the transition a little easier, you might want to include some healthier versions of some favorite snacks, e.g. sugar free candy, sugar free pop, sugar free (or low sugar) cookies, or salt-free, low-fat chips.
+ DECREASE STEALING. To help your son in the transition to healthier snacks, the high-calorie snacks need to be totally unavailable. So it would not be appropriate to have a half-gallon of ice cream or a package of Oreo cookies reserved in the kitchen for other family members. The only effective way to decrease stealing is to completely remove the temptation by making off-limits snacks inaccessible.
NOTE TO LISTENERS AND READERS: I am Cathy Knoll, a board certified music therapist and long-time friend of many folks with autism. At FAQautism.com we are committed to providing free, practical, everyday tips for making life better for people with autism. You can click on a button to send me an email with your thoughts or challenging situations or innovative solutions. Check out our website for a wealth of ideas and a glimpse into the world of autism. www.FAQautism.com
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