[sak9645]

Your child's food obsession is very common among internationally adopted children who may have experienced food shortages in their orphanage OR who may not have gotten their other needs met.

Some children simply demand more and more food at the table, till you think that they will burst. Some hoard food, to the point where families develop an ant problem from all the crackers and such hidden under the bed, in closets, etc.

The good news is that this is not a serious or lasting problem. At mealtimes, the child should be given as many helpings of food as she desires. There should be scheduled snacks of filling, nutritious items. Requests for additional food should be honored.

With older children, it sometimes helps if they are given a small cabinet of healthy snacks that is "theirs", to open as desired. This helps them see that there is plenty of food and that they have some control over access to it. Older kids also may find it comforting to help their parents shop for and prepare food, so they see that there is no shortage.

As KD Happygal's pediatrician indicated, there will come a time when a child develops an understanding of "hungry" and "full" feelings. There will also come a time when he/she feels confident that there will always be plenty to eat.

In addition, there will also come a time when a child will find that he/she no longer suffers from unmet non-food needs. Many institutionalized children get very little attention and affection. If they cry out, no one comes to hold them and reassure them. So they are "malnourished" emotionally, and not just physically. Sometimes, the child who eats and eats after adoption is trying to fill up the emotional void, not just the physical one. It may take many months of holding, cuddling, responding to cries in the night, etc. for the child to feel emotionally satisfied.

Now all of this presumes that your child has no physical problem causing the gorging. Some children MAY have parasites that rob the body of nutrients, for example, while others may have a metabolic disorder.

When you brought your child home, your child should have had a thorough workup by a doctor familiar with international adoption issues. This would have identified parasite issues in most cases, though some can be elusive. If such a workup wasn't done, by all means do it now.

If, after your child has been home a year, there has been no abatement of the gorging, you may want to have her evaluated by a respected, multidisciplinary feeding disorders program at a children's hospital. This evaluation would include testing for metabolic disorders, psychiatric issues, etc.

Sharon