A person with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is burning so much energy that’s why people assume him to be thinner and slimmer. But contrary to what they believe, it’s not necessarily the case. There are lots of studies that look at young kids and adolescence confirming that there’s a high prevalence of obesity in the ADHD population.
There’s an impulse control disorder in the mental structure of a person who has ADHD. There’s an inability to shut the brain off, particularly when telling himself that he’s full. That’s because of the external orientation that internally stops the cues of the body to feel full and sated. Meaning, whenever a person sees a morsel of food on a plate, his mind tells him that he’s still hungry and therefore he’ll continue eating even if he feels full. That’s how a person with ADHD thinks.
Swim against the tide of peer pressure and groupthink. Use your own brain. — Nicole S. Urdang, MS, NCC, DHM
For an individual with ADHD, there’s a proper way to eat healthily. There are methods and simple tips that can prevent him from consuming too much food. However, not all of it applies to everybody though.
- There should have to be a certain amount of executive functions. Meaning, a person must understand his body’s needs and wants. There’s a necessity to prioritize getting essential nutrients from every meal and avoid eating unhealthy ones such as junk foods, food with preservatives, sweets, and so on.
- There are required time management skills to be able to know when to start preparing for the right food. This way, an individual can calculate the amount of food he needs to cook and eat. Time management will also allow him to track his organization skills concerning choosing the right products, ingredients, and recipes for a particular meal.
Once unconscious beliefs are made conscious, you can counter them with affirmations and begin the process of deepening your own capacity for accepting and loving yourself. — Teresa Trower, LMHC
- Maintaining a healthy decision is a must. A person with ADHD is somehow impulsive and often will just grab something with high fat, high carbohydrate, or high sugary foods that instantly give him pleasure. These foods are not fundamentally healthy and proven to cause severe damage to overall health.
- A person with ADHD often skips breakfast. However, he shouldn’t have to. Breakfast is a fundamental meal of the day, so it is a must to take it. When he skips breakfast, he is sending off his metabolism to a weak point. When the metabolism loses its function, it makes the cravings undeniably strong. Therefore, he will need a lot of high carbohydrates, high sugar level foods, and high-fat ones.
- It is essential for an individual with ADHD to take all the time he needs to schedule and structure his meal. It is okay if he skips eating for an hour as long as he’ll not starve himself to the point that he’ll lose his appetite. It’s not necessarily an obligation to eat at exact hours. As long as there’s an organized, prepared, and nutritionally balanced food, all is set.
The real truth of the matter is that anyone who has followed an obese person in his or her quest to lose weight could hardly accuse them of a lack of discipline. — Denise Cummins Ph.D.
ADHD and obesity can go a very long way. But if a person is determined to make a change, there’s always a process that starts one thing at a time.