High Calorie Diet for Special Children

In a world obsessed with ‘low calorie’, ‘zero fat’ and ‘skimmed’ stuff, it becomes really hard for parents of special children to switch to a high calorie diet. Usually high on medication, these children loose appetite and need substantial calories to back the heavy doses. But our mind is so attuned to the stereotypical ‘All calories are bad’ mode that it won’t budge. Even after having adopted the diet for some 3 years now, I still flinch while giving him an extra spoonful of sour cream or butter, but I guess some habits are hard to let go.

After conforming thrice to the dietician I could get myself to feed him the way he should be. Actually we have spent a generation avoiding calories and carbs, but think calories equals to energy and not cholesterol, advices a dietician at a special children school.

However, giving one member of the family high calories and rest of them normal or rather low calorie diet can add up to your kitchen woes. Cooking two separate meals every single time is not a very promising prospect but you can’t sacrifice anyone’s health for you ease. Well, the dietician at a school for mentally disabled found a middle way. You can add a calorie supplement to your child’s serving.

However, when on a high calorie diet, it gets easy to choose all the wrong by products in your high calorie meals. Brownies, ice-creams, junk food etc. may have much higher calorie content but they are unhealthy as it is. So learn to read the labels and get a fair idea of what you pick. Anything unprocessed and natural is usually good. Moreover, keep an eye on fibre content as well.

So, make healthy choices and modify them carefully according to your child’s likes and dislikes.