What does food insecurity look like and how can we combat its effects?  Unbelievably, when a child is faced with food scarcity or insecurity, even at the youngest of ages, it has the potential to have life long effects on both the nervous system and the brain.  Children will constantly be on the look out for food.  This may lead to stealing or hoarding of foods. You may find the child is up in the night taking items from the kitchen or you may find wrappers, or just food itself in strange places.  These are all normal behaviors for children who are in self preservation mode.  Yes, it may persist years later, even though an abundance has always  been offered.  Does age matter?  Yes, even infants who have experienced severe hunger have the potential to exhibit signs. 

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How do we combat this?  There are several facets that need to be discussed.  First, is that shaming the child WILL NOT  change the behavior and WILL put a distrust in your relationship.  Behaviors that stem from self preservation should not be punished, but rooted out and replaced with better actions.  First, reaction is key.  Finding a bunch of wrappers, or noticing that a bunch of food is missing in the morning can be jarring.  Keeping an open and honest conversation going.  Talk about the importance of calories and how certain foods affect our bodies would be a great start.  Always having, within sight, fresh fruits and veggies that they are free to snack on whenever they want.  Creating a food menu for the week so that every meal is planned and known creates a bond of trust. The kids can help plan the meal by looking at recipes and sale ads and  can help you to plan accordingly.  We have a free resource to help you plan. It is a reproducible that you can fill out for each meal, keep it posted where the child can see, and plan ahead for the whole week.  It also stops over buying when you know what ingredients you will need for each meal.   Second, how do we root out and replace the negative behaviors when it comes to food?  Trust. As trust is built, the fight or flight part of the brain calms and although it may come in waves, knowing there will be food tomorrow is mentally stabilizing.  That although we are out of this particular food here, the store has plenty and we can restock.  Bringing the child to the store to show them that there is always a way to get more is also healing.  many times, children have not participated in grocery shopping so they don't understand how easy it is to bring more food home.  As always, having conversations centered around the topic the child is struggling with is always a proactive way to help heal.