When your children get the munchies, be prepared to offer a quick-and-healthy fix.
Snacking is a major pastime for many kids — and it isn't necessarily bad. Snacking can help your children curb hunger throughout the day, as well as provide energy and nutrients. But the quality of your children's snacks is key. Consider these 20 tips for healthier snacking.
- Give your kids a say. Offer comparable choices, such as regular or frozen yogurt, celery or carrots, whole-grain toast or whole-grain crackers, apples or oranges. Better yet, recruit your children's help at the grocery store when you're selecting snacks or in the kitchen when you're assembling snacks.
- Designate a snacking zone. Restrict snacking to the kitchen. You'll save your children countless calories from mindless munching in front of the TV.
- Make it quick. If your children need to snack on the go, think beyond a bag of potato chips. Offer string cheese, yogurt sticks, cereal bars or other drip-free items.
- Don't be fooled by labeling gimmicks. Foods marketed as low-fat or fat-free can still be high in calories. Likewise, foods touted as cholesterol-free can still be high in fat, saturated fat and sugar. Check nutrition labels to find out the whole story.
- Go for the grain. Whole-grain snacks — such as whole-grain pretzels or tortillas and low-sugar, whole-grain cereals — can give your children energy with some staying power.
- Out of sight, out of mind. If the cookie jar is full, your children will probably clamor for cookies. But if there aren't any cookies in the house, fresh fruit or raw veggies may seem more appealing.
- Play with your food. Ask your children to make towers out of whole-grain crackers, spell words with pretzel sticks, or make funny faces on a plate using different types of fruit. Use a tablespoon of peanut butter as glue.
- Think outside the box. Offer something new, such as fresh pineapple, cranberries, red or yellow peppers, or roasted soy nuts. Slice a whole-wheat pita and serve with hummus.
- Mix and match. Serve baby carrots or other raw veggies with fat-free ranch dressing. Dip graham cracker sticks or fresh fruit in fat-free yogurt. Top celery, apples or bananas with peanut butter.
- Revisit breakfast. Many breakfast foods — such as low-sugar, whole-grain cereals and whole-grain toast — make great afternoon snacks.
- Use the freezer. Mix mashed bananas and peanut butter, spread between graham crackers and freeze. For a new twist on old snack-time favorites, freeze grapes or peeled bananas, or fill an ice cube tray with juice or pudding.
- Have fun. Use a cookie cutter to make shapes out of low-fat cheese slices, whole-grain bread or whole-grain tortillas. Eat diced fruit with chopsticks. Give snacks funny names. Try the classic "ants on a log" — celery topped with peanut butter and raisins — or make up your own.
- Sweeten it up. Healthy snacks don't need to be bland. To satisfy your child's sweet tooth, offer fat-free pudding, frozen yogurt or frozen fruit bars.
- Pull out the blender. Use skim milk, fat-free yogurt and fresh fruit to make your own smoothies.
- Promote independence. Make it easy for older children to help themselves. Keep a selection of ready-to-eat veggies in the refrigerator. Leave fresh fruit in a bowl on the counter. Store low-sugar, whole-grain cereal in an easily accessible cabinet, and stock fruit canned or packaged in its own juice in your pantry.
- Remember your leftovers. A small serving of last night's casserole might make a great snack.
- Drinks count, too. Offer your children plenty of water between meals. Liven it up with shaped ice cubes, a crazy straw, or a squirt of lemon, cranberry or other fruit juice.
- Keep it safe. Make sure your children's snacks are age appropriate. Never give foods that pose a choking hazard — such as nuts, raisins, whole grapes or popcorn — to children younger than age 4.
- Practice what you preach. Let your children catch you munching raw vegetables or snacking on a bowl of grapes.
- Be patient. Your children's snacking habits may not change overnight. Look for positive changes over weeks or months.
Teaching your children to make healthy snack choices now will set the stage for a lifetime of healthy snacking. Start today!
Symptoms
People with personality disorders commonly experience conflict and instability in many aspects of their lives, and most believe others are responsible for their problems.
Signs and symptoms of cluster A (odd, eccentric) personality disorders may include:
Paranoid personality disorder
- Belief that others are lying, cheating, exploiting or trying to harm you
- Perception of hidden, malicious meaning in benign comments
- Inability to work collaboratively with others
- Emotional detachment
- Hostility toward others
Schizoid personality disorder
- Fantasizing
- Extreme introversion
- Emotional distance, even from family members
- Fixation on your own thoughts and feelings
- Emotional detachment
Schizotypal personality disorder
- Indifference to and withdrawal from others
- "Magical thinking" — the idea that you can influence people and events with your thoughts
- Odd, elaborate style of dressing, speaking and interacting with others
- Belief that messages are hidden for you in public speeches and displays
- Suspicious or paranoid ideas
Signs and symptoms of cluster B (dramatic, emotional) personality disorders may include:
Histrionic personality disorder
- Excessive sensitivity to others' approval
- Attention-grabbing, often sexually provocative clothing and behavior
- Excessive concern with your physical appearance
- False sense of intimacy with others
- Constant, sudden emotional shifts
Narcissistic personality disorder
- Inflated sense of — and preoccupation with — your importance, achievements and talents
- Constant attention-grabbing and admiration-seeking behavior
- Inability to empathize with others
- Excessive anger or shame in response to criticism
- Manipulation of others to further your own desires
Antisocial (formerly, sociopathic) personality disorder
- Chronic irresponsibility and unreliability
- Lack of regard for the law and for others' rights
- Persistent lying and stealing
- Aggressive, often violent behavior
- Lack of remorse for hurting others
- Lack of concern for the safety of yourself and others
Borderline personality disorder
- Difficulty controlling emotions or impulses
- Frequent, dramatic changes in mood, opinions and plans
- Stormy relationships involving frequent, intense anger and possibly physical fights
- Fear of being alone despite a tendency to push people away
- Feeling of emptiness inside
- Suicide attempts or self-mutilation
Signs and symptoms of cluster C (anxious, fearful) personality disorders may include:
Avoidant personality disorder
- Hypersensitivity to criticism or rejection
- Self-imposed social isolation
- Extreme shyness in social situations, though you strongly desire close relationships
Dependent personality disorder
- Excessive dependence on others to meet your physical and emotional needs
- Tolerance of poor, even abusive treatment in order to stay in relationships
- Unwillingness to independently voice opinions, make decisions or initiate activities
- Intense fear of being alone
- Urgent need to start a new relationship when one has ended
Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder
- Excessive concern with order, rules, schedules and lists
- Perfectionism, often so pronounced that you can't complete tasks because your standards are impossible to meet
- Inability to throw out even broken, worthless objects
- Inability to share responsibility with others
- Inflexibility about the "right" ethics, ideas and methods
- Compulsive devotion to work at the expense of recreation and relationships
- Financial stinginess
- Discomfort with emotions and aspects of personal relationships that you can't control
Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder is not the same as obsessive-compulsive disorder, an anxiety disorder that shares some symptoms but is more extreme and disabling.
Risk factors
More women than men develop borderline personality disorder. But men are much more likely than women to have antisocial personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.
Other risk factors for personality disorders include:
- A history of childhood verbal, physical or sexual abuse
- A family history of schizophrenia
- A family history of personality disorders
- A childhood head injury
- An unstable family life
Tests and diagnosis
There are no specific tests for personality disorders. Your doctor will ask you questions about your symptoms, personal history and emotional well-being, and may talk to friends and relatives about your behavior. A mental health professional will probably help make the diagnosis, and he or she will also evaluate whether you have other mental health or substance abuse problems.
Doctors regard the diagnosis of most personality disorders in adolescents as premature. That's because what appear to be signs or symptoms of personality disorders often disappear as adolescents grow older. However, signs and symptoms of antisocial personality disorder become evident before age 15.
Treatments and drugs
A number of barriers make personality disorders among the most challenging mental health conditions to treat. People with these conditions are likely to have difficulty opening up to or retaining closeness with therapists. Perceived criticism may cause them to react angrily and break off therapy. Those who seek treatment on their own and who are motivated to stick with therapy over many years are the most likely to succeed.
Treatment for most personality disorders is with a combination of therapy and medications.
Therapy
Types of therapy that can help people with personality disorders include:
- Psychodynamic psychotherapy. This approach entails talking about your condition and related issues with a mental health professional. Psychotherapy can help people with personality disorders recognize how they're responsible for the turmoil in their lives and learn healthier ways of reacting to people and problems. Individual, group and family therapy can all be helpful.
- Cognitive behavior therapy. This form of psychological treatment involves actively retraining the way you think about problems, which in turn improves your emotions and behaviors.
- Dialectical behavior therapy. This type of cognitive behavior therapy focuses on coping skills — learning how to take better control of behaviors and emotions with techniques such as mindfulness, which helps you observe your feelings without reacting. It is most often used to treat borderline personality disorder. Doctors are studying the effectiveness of this type of therapy with all types of personality disorders.
Medications
People with personality disorders often experience serious mental and emotional strain, causing additional mental health problems, such as depression, phobia and panic. Medications may help alleviate these related conditions, but they can't cure the underlying disorder. Therapy aimed at building new coping mechanisms must be the cornerstone of treatment.
Medications that may offer support during therapy include:
- Antidepressants. Doctors commonly prescribe selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), such as fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem), sertraline (Zoloft), citalopram (Celexa), paroxetine (Paxil), nefazodone, and escitalopram (Lexapro), or the related antidepressant venlafaxine (Effexor) to help relieve depression and anxiety in people with personality disorders. Less often, monoamine oxidase inhibitors such as phenelzine (Nardil) and tranylcypromine (Parnate) may be used.
- Anticonvulsants. These medications may help suppress impulsive and aggressive behavior. Your doctor may prescribe carbamazepine (Carbatrol, Tegretol) or valproic acid (Depakote). Your doctor may also prescribe topiramate (Topamax), an anticonvulsant that's being studied as an aid in managing impulse-control problems.
- Antipsychotics. People with borderline and schizotypal personality disorders are at risk of losing touch with reality. Antipsychotic medications such as risperidone (Risperdal) and olanzapine (Zyprexa) can help improve distorted thinking. For severe behavior problems, doctors may prescribe haloperidol (Haldol).
- Other medications. Doctors sometimes prescribe anti-anxiety medications such as alprazolam (Xanax) and clonazepam (Klonopin) and mood stabilizers such as lithium (Eskalith, Lithobid) to relieve symptoms associated with personality disorders.
Last Updated: 06/15/2007
