Fighting to get ready for school and crying over small details at breakfast time, or even waking up at night can be due to something called hidden hunger. Hidden hunger in children refers to individuals who may suffer from anger and irritability, mood swings, and trouble sleeping all because of nutrient deficiencies in their diets.
Hidden hunger in kids can often lead to behavioral issues at school, frustration at home, difficulty concentrating, and at times aggression.
Hidden Hunger Definition
*Keep reading for more on how I learned my son suffered from hidden hunger and how my nutrition education evolved.
Hidden hunger is defined as a micronutrient deficiency in the body stemming from a poor diet that is lacking in key vitamins and minerals. Half the world’s population under 5 suffers from it, according to UNICEF USA. This is a big problem for kids because their little bodies need those essential vitamins and minerals to grow healthy teeth and bones, as well as for cognitive development and a healthy immune system.
It’s called hidden hunger because a child can experience this even after eating a full meal because the cells have not been fed by proper vitamins and minerals. The belly is essentially full but the body is starving!
Three Factors in The Triple Burden of Malnutrition
It’s important to have access to quality food and nutrition because malnutrition can occur in many ways. Hidden Hunger in children can manifest in these issues known as the triple burden of malnutrition…
- Undernutrition
- micronutrient deficiency,
- Overweight and obesity
Hidden Hunger and Behavior
Imagine if the terrible twos could be renamed, the terrific twos…and the ferocious fours could be the fabulous fours. Well there have been instances where groups of supposedly troubled kids with behavioral issues were fed a whole food diet over a period of time and suddenly their academic and behavioral issues seemed to vanish.
Many of the children who had been violent and aggressive just ceased to be that way. It was all AFTER the change in diet. The once rowdy lunchroom had become so quiet and calm that you could hear a pin drop.
Along with dietary improvements, addressing emotional and behavioral patterns through teen online therapy can also play a key role in fostering positive change.
Nutritional Deficiencies Worldwide
Iron Deficiency or anemia affects 1.2 billion people worldwide. Anemia occurs when the body doesn’t have enough healthy red blood cells. Red blood cells are made in the bones and carry oxygen to all parts of the body. It’s pretty important! The most common symptoms of iron deficiency are feeling cold specifically in the hands and feet, fatigue and weakness, brittle nails, sore tongue, becoming light headed or dizzy to name a few.
If you’re low in iron, you can increase your iron intake naturally with a whole food diet. Almost every plant based, nutritious foods have iron in it from the soil.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM5C30VLeks
Vitamin D deficiency affects approximately 1 billion worldwide and can be attributed to a lack of essential foods and quality sunlight.
How We Discovered Hidden Hunger and How to Prevent It
With the standard American diet for kids consisting of chicken nuggets, juice drinks, french fries, candy, chips, and sugar…if there any wonder why our kids are out of their minds with lack of nutrition? The numbers of overweight and obesity in children continues to skyrocket.
My youngest is currently in the “ferocious fours” and I thought he was eating a well rounded diet of healthy foods. It wasn’t until I started juicing for him that I noticed a big shift in behavior.
My four year old would wake up in the morning with a tantrum. I’m talking as soon as he opened his eyes, the screaming and tears would start. Awesome start to the day right? It would often take him about 30 minutes just to calm down.
I would feed him a “well balanced breakfast” of fruit, maybe a pancake with syrup, and a side of protein like sausage or bacon. Sometimes I would even make him smoothies. I thought that was plenty of nutrients, but I was wrong.
By the afternoon my young son was climbing the walls, super hyper, and it took a lot of work to get him to sit for homeschool.
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Prevent Hidden Hunger in Kids
Finally, I replaced my old juicer that I never used with an inexpensive Amazon juicer. We began making juice together using kale, green apple only, lemon, cucumber, ginger, carrot, grapes, and more.
After just one cup, my youngest was quiet, calm, and ready for homeschool, but don’t think I noticed this right away. It wasn’t until the late afternoon that I realized he hadn’t had a tantrum ALL DAY! His older brother took notice.
The mornings that followed, my son would wake up and be ready to brush his teeth and quietly join us downstairs for breakfast. This was a miracle!
He even stopped being so aggressive with his older brother and wanting to wrestle and rough house all of the time.
Now that we know more about the causes of hidden hunger in children, we can take more steps to make sure our kids have all of the micronutrients needed for healthy brain function. Fight hidden hunger by adding a green powder to their smoothies, juicing leafy greens, increasing their gut flora for better food absorption, and eating overall more fruit and steamed veggies.
Raw fruits and vegetables along with a diet consisting of a variety of foods contain iron zinc and other essential nutrients needed for long term growth and development. I’ve found that the best way to jam pack these nutrients in is not threw chewing. An adult could not consume the amount of greens they need to reverse a deficiency let alone a small child.
Green Powders and Juicers
Juicing and green powders seem to be the best options. My favorite green powders are jam packed with a variety of wild plants that work together to deliver maximum vitamins and minerals. Wild plants are the strongest and often contain the highest potency of nutrition.
The best juicers are slow masticating juicers that pulverize and crush the food, keeping the living enzymes in tact. These two tools will help fight hidden hunger in children.
4 Responses
Try hiya! The best option for kids who need their nutrients.
So very interesting! I think this may be an issue I have with my boys too! Do you have a juice recipe or link to your juicer?
Where can I find the recipe for the juicer?
Hidden hunger in children, caused by nutrient deficiencies, can lead to behavioral issues like irritability and aggression. Addressing these deficiencies with a whole food diet can significantly improve behavior and well-being.