Went to a meeting at school about my son this morning, and the general consensus was that he was literally exhausted by the afternoon. If they saw him in the hall and asked how he was doing, his answer would be that he was tired. I know the majority of this has to do with his LD types, but has anyone ever tried diet modification to see if inattentiveness in an afternoon might be improved? In other words, this is a child that works his tail off all morning and participates willingly in class discussions, etc., but after lunch, he has mentally exhausted himself and comes across as inattentive. Again, I know that diet isn’t all to blame, but maybe a change would help?? Thanks in advance for your input!
We had this problem
I think that remediation in general solved this problem somewhat.
I do know that food makes a difference. He can concentrate much better with more protein in his diet. He gets eggs for breakfast and that makes a big difference.
Avoid sugars and especially avoid anything with dyes. Fruit roll ups can send my son into a tailspin. There is some research that supports the idea that dyes can make some kids hyper.
I never thought....
that too many carbs in a diet would alter his mood at school. Don’t get me wrong, I know exactly the purpose of simple and complex carbs, but it didn’t dawn on me that it might be contributing to his fatigue. Again, I know that his LD is the majority of the reason, but it also stands to reason that the carbs might be having some input as well. He is a tall boy for his age, 5’0” and only 8…..he eats a lot, and the majority of things he gets into are crackers and bread. He can hardly get enough of those types of foods. Quite honestly, protein isn’t one of the things that I push in the morning. He usually has cereal or pancakes with syrup. Hmmmm, this brings up some interesting points about is diet!!
Re: Do certain foods make a difference with your child?
Carbs do get a bad rap, though — I’d encourage both… and perhaps a little coffee? It’s worth trying different combinations — if I have a sweet drink with caffeine it doesn’t help at all, but unvarnished lemoned tea (pucker up!) is a great focuser and re-energizer.
YOu could try upping his protein at lunch, but it is much more likely that the reason he is tired is because he worked his tail off all morning and well is dry by the afternoon. He probably needs a long recess and some downtime, but many schools don’t structure things that way.