{"id":9777,"date":"2021-09-30T19:14:25","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T19:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.childrensbureau.org\/?p=9777"},"modified":"2025-02-25T12:05:34","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T17:05:34","slug":"food-scarcity-or-food-insecurity-behaviors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/resources\/news-library\/food-scarcity-or-food-insecurity-behaviors\/","title":{"rendered":"Kris’ Corner – Food Scarcity or Food Insecurity Behaviors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Often when a child first enters the foster system, the full picture is not known regarding what he\/she experienced with their biological family\u2026let alone what behavior they might exhibit as a result of their previous care. DCS and Children\u2019s Bureau will give you as much information as they have available at the time of placement, but they clearly will not know everything straight out of the gate.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is more likely that you, as the foster parents, will tell DCS and the licensing agency about the issues or behaviors of the child. One of those possible things has to do with food scarcity or food insecurity.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are a couple ways this can manifest in a child\u2019s behavior and this is often through either the specific foods they will (or won\u2019t) eat, and\/or food hoarding.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes when children come into care, they have a short (or VERY SHORT) list of foods they will eat. This may have to do with what they were previously served. It may have to do with sensory issues which make certain foods difficult to eat simply because of the texture (or they may be sensory seeking or sensory adverse, which adds additional challenges). Or it is simply due to the emotional connection they might feel with their family through a specific food or foods.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is not a blanket statement for all children coming into care, however the foods a child chooses to eat are often not\u00a0what you choose to serve. I would encourage you to let that battle go, at least in the interim. Additionally, try not to refer to their preferred food as\u00a0\u201cjunk\u201d\u00a0food, because it is what has more than likely sustained them up to this point. And in much the same way that a foster child should not have their possessions transported in a trash bag, they should not have the food they eat be called\u00a0\u201cjunk\u201d\u2026it is, after all, a part of their emotional connection with a biological family, and there should not be any insinuation that either he\/she or their biological family are junk.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Point being\u2026if at all possible, try to focus less on what they\u2019re eating and work more on making a connection with them. Offer them additional choices beyond their current food preferences, and over time, they may take you up on it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If not, it won\u2019t be the end of the world. You clearly would like\u00a0them\u00a0to eat a balanced (or at least a MORE balanced) diet, but it might be that this will just have to evolve over time as you help\u00a0them\u00a0work through the trauma\u00a0they’ve\u00a0experienced and help\u00a0them\u00a0with feel safe.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now\u2026the other possible behavior a child may display concerning food,\u00a0is hoarding.\u00a0It\u2019s probably\u00a0fairly\u00a0obvious\u00a0why a child would hoard food, but just in case\u00a0it is\u00a0not,\u00a0here is an explanation in a nutshell:\u00a0it often comes about when a child has come from a situation in which\u00a0he\/she had no idea if and when the next meal was coming. Maybe there was little to no food in the house, and no money for food. So,\u00a0they\u00a0learned that if there was an opportunity to get\u00a0their\u00a0hands on food,\u00a0they were\u00a0going to take that opportunity, regardless\u00a0of\u00a0whether it was right or wrong.\u00a0Often this is not an intentional decision; it is simply a response to a traumatic situation\u2026a primal response born out of fear.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a result, when\u00a0a child<\/span>\u00a0come<\/span>s\u00a0into foster care\u00a0from such an environment, or even\u00a0from\u00a0an environment in which\u00a0there\u2019s a scarcity of food\u00a0in\u00a0their\u00a0biological family home (maybe never quite enough but there is some), and\u00a0they\u00a0now\u00a0see\u00a0the refrigerator and cabinets full of\u00a0food,\u00a0they\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0quite know what to do with that. It\u2019s overwhelming and tempting to not want it take it and keep it for\u00a0themselves. So sometimes\u00a0they do.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

K<\/span>nowing\u00a0that this behavior is\u00a0not what\u00a0they\u00a0probably\u00a0*should* do,\u00a0they\u00a0hide it or eat all of it and hide the\u00a0wrappers. I\u2019ve heard\u00a0several\u00a0foster parents\u00a0talk about\u00a0discovering<\/span>\u00a0rotten,\u00a0moldy, or\u00a0melted\u00a0frozen\u00a0food\u00a0stuffed\u00a0<\/span>between\u00a0mattresses, under beds or hidden in the backs of closets\u00a0or drawers. The child is living out of\u00a0their\u00a0scarcity, and trying to ensure\u00a0their\u00a0safety and survival.\u00a0The message\u00a0to you, as the foster parent,\u00a0is not only\u00a0about what\u00a0has happened to\u00a0him\/her, but also that\u00a0he\/she does\u00a0not feel safe in the foster home.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, if this happens, remain calm, regulated and present. Talk to\u00a0the child\u00a0about it, but not in a demeaning tone. And if you have to, show\u00a0them\u00a0again all the food available to\u00a0them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This may bear repeating more than once.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All that\u00a0said, a child\u00a0may\u00a0SAY\u00a0that\u00a0they\u00a0feel\u00a0safe, but truly\u00a0experiencing\u00a0felt safety will involve an understanding that the food will always be there and\u00a0they don\u2019t\u00a0have to hoard it\u00a0for later. One of the techniques that seems to be most effective is\u00a0keeping a basket\u00a0or box\u00a0of snacks\u00a0on\u00a0a counter\u00a0in the kitchen\u00a0or\u00a0on a bedroom\u00a0nightstand\u2026or in both places.\u00a0The\u00a0child\u00a0can choose\u00a0to eat as much of the food as\u00a0they\u00a0want\u00a0and\u00a0the food is\u00a0accessible to\u00a0her\u00a024-hours a day.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Initially, a child might eat everything in the basket.\u00a0And\u00a0they\u00a0might do this for several days in a row. But after\u00a0they\u00a0do this\u00a0and always find that\u00a0the basket\u00a0is replenished, eventually\u00a0they\u00a0will come to understand that the food will\u00a0always\u00a0be there;\u00a0that there is more than enough food;\u00a0and\u00a0that\u00a0they are\u00a0safe, regardless of what\u00a0his\/her\u00a0primal brain might be\u00a0trying to\u00a0tell\u00a0them.\u00a0And\u00a0they\u00a0will stop feeling the compulsion to eat everything (or maybe even anything) in the basket.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If\u00a0you are ever in a situation in which a child who has experienced food scarcity\u00a0comes to\u00a0live with\u00a0you, I hope this insight into the behaviors and the tips will help you help\u00a0them\u00a0experience felt safety.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kris<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Often when a child first enters the foster system, the full picture is not known regarding what he\/she experienced with their biological family\u2026let alone what behavior they might exhibit as a result of their previous care. DCS and Children\u2019s Bureau will give you as much information as they have available at the time of placement, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kriss-corner"],"yoast_head":"\nKris' Corner - Food Scarcity or Food Insecurity Behaviors - Firefly Children and Family Alliance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/resources\/news-library\/food-scarcity-or-food-insecurity-behaviors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kris' Corner - Food Scarcity or Food Insecurity Behaviors - Firefly Children and Family Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Often when a child first enters the foster system, the full picture is not known regarding what he\/she experienced with their biological family\u2026let alone what behavior they might exhibit as a result of their previous care. 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