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Reported hyperphagia in foster children
1Department of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461.
Insights
Children with atypical eating patterns, including excessive appetite and lack of satiety, often exhibit behavioral issues. This hyperphagia can indicate significant underlying psychopathology in children from families with substance abuse history.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Behavioral Science
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Foster children from families with high rates of alcohol/drug abuse were studied.
- A subsample exhibited both atypical eating and behavioral patterns.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the physical and behavioral characteristics of these children.
- To explore the relationship between hyperphagia and psychopathology.
Main Methods:
- Evaluation of a large cohort of foster children.
- Detailed description of physical and behavioral traits in a specific subsample.
Main Results:
- Children displayed excessive appetite, driven eating, and lack of satiety, sometimes leading to vomiting or pain.
- These children were neither obese nor "failure to thrive."
- All children in the subsample had psychiatric disorders.
Conclusions:
- Atypical eating patterns, specifically hyperphagia, were identified in a subsample of foster children.
- Hyperphagia appears to be a significant marker for underlying psychopathology in this population.
Abstract:
In evaluating a large group of foster children from biological families with a high incidence of alcohol and/or drug abuse, there emerges a subsample of children with both atypical eating patterns as well as atypical behavior patterns. Their physical and behavioral characteristics are described. These children are neither obese nor "failure to thrive." They display an excessive appetite for food, a driven quality to their eating, an apparent lack of satiety, and frequent eating to the point of vomiting or gastric pain if food intake is not limited externally. All of these children have psychiatric disorders. Hyperphagia appears to be a marker for significant psychopathology.