Eating Resources For Those With Developmental Disabilities
Developmental disabilities are a group of chronic conditions related to either mental or physical impairments. They are called “developmental” disabilities because they usually manifest themselves while a child is young, in their early stages of development. A recent study showed that 1 in 6 kids between the ages of 3-17 had a developmental disability, and that diagnosis rates are increasing with time.
Developmental Disabilities can have serious implications throughout one’s lifetime, especially when it comes to “language, mobility, learning, self-help, and independent living” . Although every developmental disability is different, and every individual’s situation is unique, one thing they all have in common is an increased potential for eating difficulties. These eating difficulties have many sources, a few of which are: decreased muscle control, the inability to self feed, sensory issues, and not being able to communicate food preferences or feelings of hunger.
Soft, nutritious, and appealing looking foods can be key to helping those with developmental disabilities enjoy mealtime and, in turn, improve their nutrition and quality of life.
Eating Difficulties Are Common Among All Developmental Disabilities:
Down Syndrome is a genetic disorder which results from having three copies of chromosome 21, instead of the usual 2 copies. According to the CDC, It is the most common chromosomal disorder in the United States, affecting 1 in every 700 babies.
Those with Down Syndrome usually present with distinct facial features and are generally shorter in stature. Development milestones, like learning to talk or walking, are typically delayed. Mild or moderate mental impairment is common. Down Syndrome is also associated with an increased risk of eye problems, hearing loss, sleep apnea, and congential heart defects. Through modern medicine and increased awareness, individuals with Down Syndrome can lead happy, productive lives, receive educations, achieve levels of self sufficiency, and have an expected life span of up to 60 years.
Eating difficulties are common with Down Syndrome, especially with infants and toddlers. Some of these difficulties are caused by low muscle tone, sensory problems, food refusal, low endurance, and delayed oral motor skill development. Those with Down Syndrome commonly have delayed tooth development as well as as an undersized maxilla, both of which can make it difficult to chew.
Cerebral Palsy is a neurological disorder that affects body movement and muscle coordination. It is caused by either a developmental abnormality in a developing brain or from damage to a developing brain. Because the brains ability to direct motor function is impaired, those with Cerebral Palsy may have difficulties walking, talking, using fine motor skills, and may struggle with swallowing. Excessive drooling is also common. The symptoms of Cerebral Palsy become more noticeable during the first few year of life, are permanent, but generally do not progressively get worse.
Impaired muscle coordination limits the body’s ability to coordinate the very complex steps of swallowing. Those with Cerebral Palsy commonly have problems swallowing (dysphagia). This puts them at higher risk for aspiration during eating which can lead to pulmonary infection. Impaired muscle coordination further complicates meal time by making it more difficult for individuals to feed themselves.
According to the CDC, “Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disability that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges” Autism affects about 1 in 54 children in the United States. There is great variance in the reported symptoms, some of which are: difficulty relating to others, difficulty communicating with others, difficulty expressing their needs, and unusual reactions to the way things smell, taste, look, or feel.
Children with autism can be very selective about what they eat, sometimes eating as few as 5 types of food. In one study, multiple foods in each food group (fruits, protein, vegetables, dairy, starches) were presented to children with and without autism. The study showed that children with autism ate far fewer foods from each food group than children without autism. Diets that are very limited in their variety of foods can lead to nutritional insufficiency.
Autistic individuals may be hypersensitive to new flavors or textures that they are not used to. Individuals with autism also may have difficulty expressing their food preferences. This can add to the stress of mealtime for both the affected individual and for their parents.
According to the National Institutes of Health, spina bifida is a birth defect where there is incomplete closure of the spine and the membranes around the spinal cord, this occurs during the first trimester of pregnancy. There are different types of spina bifida, each varying in the severity of the symptoms. Some of those symptoms are: walking and mobility problems, orthopedic complications, bowel and bladder problems, fluid accumulation around the brain, and an increased risk for learning disabilities.
Those with spina bifida are more likely to have dysphagia (difficulty swallowing). Dysphagia can lead to choking, aspiration of foods and liquids, longer feeding times, poor salivary control, weight loss, and refusal to eat certain textures of food.
Other concerns related to eating difficulties and spina bifida are: obesity, urinary tract infections, constipation, and nutritional deficiencies.
According to the CDC, those who have an intellectual disability are limited in their ability to learn at an expected level in daily life. It can develop at any time before a child is 18 years old. It can be caused by a developmental defect in the brain, injury, or a disease.
Intellectual disabilities result in deficits in one’s intellectual functions as well as their adaptive functioning. Examples of intellectual functions which can be limited are: language development, reasoning, problem solving, judgement, and academic learning. Adaptive functioning essentially means ones ability to perform basic life skills. Deficits in this category lead to difficulty in finding success in home, school, or work environments.
According to the CDC, Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are a group of conditions that can occur in a person whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy. Among the symptoms are physical problems, as well as problems with behavior and learning. Affected individuals can have problems with memory, attention span, communication, and may have learning disabilities.
One study showed that those with fetal alcohol syndrome were found to commonly have feeding difficulties. Some of these difficulties were increased food aversion, food refusals on the basis of texture, and trouble self feeding due to difficulty handling silverware.
Another study showed that those with a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder may be at risk for nutritional deficiencies due to inappropriate food preferences, disordered eating patterns, and the stressful dynamics surrounding food preparation and mealtime.
Your Goals When Preparing Meals For Those With Developmental Disabilities:
- Cook three meals a day and provide healthy snacks in between meals
- Try to have a variety of foods at each meal. Being able to choose which foods to eat is an opportunity to develop feeding independence and can give you some ideas of their food preferences.
- Try to provide a balanced diet of vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy, and protein as dietary restrictions allow.
- ChooseMyPlate.gov is a great resource for creating a balanced diet!
- Talk with your physician and dietitian about the specific nutritional needs of the individual you are caring for.
- Eat together as a family whenever possible. Meal times are a great opportunity to strengthen social and family relationships. Eating with others is generally a more positive experience than eating by yourself.
- Try to make meals stress free and positive. Pressuring, yelling, or forcing individuals to eat could potentially lead to negative associations with meal time, and in turn eating. One study showed that the less pressure children received to eat, the more they enjoyed their food.
Some More Easy To Chew Recipes
Helpful Cooking Appliances When Cooking For Those With Developmental Disabilities
A crock pot is a simple way to prepare meals in advance. Cooking foods, especially meats, at controlled temperatures for long periods of time makes them easy to chew and delicious!
There is no finer way to puree foods than a Vitamix Blender. It can turn any food into a single, smooth texture which is easy to swallow.
A food processor is a must have for finely chopping, slicing, and pureeing foods. It does all the work for you, which is especially helpful if your age or health status limits your ability to chop and slice foods by hand.