Cindy Hooks Morrison, M.S., CCC-SLP, CLC
Did you know that daylight savings will make your children hungry?
We have internal clocks all over our body, including in our stomach. There is a biological rhythm to the way our body functions in all areas, including eating, our cycle of alertness and sleeping. As we move our clocks back, our appetites fall out of sync. This happens because if you aren’t sleeping well, your metabolism changes and that affects your eating routine.
There is a hormone that your body has called Leptin. This hormone is responsible for signaling that you feel full. If you don’t get enough sleep, levels of leptin in your body drop. This drop in leptin is responsible for increasing your appetite and actually makes comfort food seem more appealing. In other words, daylight savings will make your children hungry and especially for junk food.
And guess what?
The affects of sleep deprivation effects can linger in some people for as long as six days after we the clocks are changed. This sounds like bad news for a parent struggling with mealtimes, but don’t dismay, daylight savings time is a great time to work on presenting healthier snack options while your children feel hungry. If you provide a variety of colorful foods, offer an extra healthy snack this week (if requested), keep your children well hydrated and gradually adjust the change in your dinner time, you can work on keeping your family on schedule while working towards eating well all at the same time.
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