Editor's Note: It's the Nipper family's third week of the Fit Families Challenge from Special Olympics Arkansas! The family of four -- Luke, Christy, Miles (3 years) and Molly (9 months) -- is participating in the six-week program designed for individuals with special needs and their families. The Fit Families Challenge encourages physical activity and healthy eating for the whole family. Read more about the free program here, and check out more posts about the Nipper family's journey here.

“All done,” I proclaim after Miles finishes eating his dinner. A slight smile creeps up from the corner of his mouth as he says “no” with perfect pronunciation. This verbal response is emphasized with the appropriate side-to-side head movement (just to reinforce his point)! Miles then points to my plate and makes it very clear that he would like me to share my remaining dinner with him. Miles loves to eat. I mean he REALLY loves to eat.

Before I had kids of my own, it seemed like every time I was around younger kids at mealtime, their parents were constantly trying creative ideas to get them to eat: “If you want dessert you need to eat two more bites of chicken.” We have to find creative ways to convince Miles that he has had enough to eat. Exercise is crucial to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, but so is healthy eating. Fortunately for us, Miles loves eating healthy foods, he just wants to eat too much of them. Portion control is a real struggle for Miles and there are a lot of factors that play into the problem.

Many people with Down syndrome have a desensitized palette. Because Miles does not taste or feel the food in his mouth with the same intensity that I do, he often wants more stimulation to his palette before he is satisfied. In order to help Miles “feel and taste” his food more so he does not feel the need to eat more, we incorporate lots of texture and increased taste to his meals.

Crunchy foods provide a lot of input for Miles and are therefore his favorite. Some of our favorite “crunchy” foods and snacks are carrots, apples, almonds, rice Chex and homemade Chex mix (rice Chex, apple chips, dried cranberries, nuts, etc.). To increase taste in other foods we have to add more seasonings. For applesauce, oatmeal, and his thermos cereal, we add cinnamon. We love to use Rosemary with chicken and a little extra salt and pepper with vegetables.

Due to low muscle tone in Miles’ mouth, he often chews less before swallowing. This also makes him feel like he has not eaten “enough.” To help increase muscle and awareness, we do oral motor exercises with Miles before each meal. These are a series of stretches, massages, and chewing exercises that help “wake up” his mouth so he is more aware and sensitive to the foods he is eating. It also makes it safer for him to eat crunchy or chewy foods without choking and strengthens the muscles needed for speech! Miles began speech therapy at Access School just before his first birthday. We have been so fortunate to have Barrett Feltus, the most amazing speech therapist, to guide us and teach us different strategies for introducing new foods, using oral motor therapy, and so much more. Miles has always been willing to do things for Mrs. Barrett that he would never do for us.

While eating meals, we use certain strategies or cues for Miles to help him learn portion control. We talk about what foods are on his plate, let him choose which food to take a bite of next, work on self feeding skills, and count down as he is nearing the end of his food (“Look Miles, only 5 more green beans until we are all finished”). After he finishes all the food on his plate, we say “all finished” and talk about being full. We then move away from the table and into an activity as quickly as possible!

Teaching Miles portion control will probably be a lesson that continues for many years, but it is an important lesson that has been one of our big focuses since beginning the Fit Family Challenge!