The week of September 20 is Autism Awareness Week at DietsInReview.com.
Guest Blogger Karianna writes at The Karianna Spectrum. Her oldest son was diagnosed with PDD-nos when he was in pre-school.
Food is sustenance, but it also has sensory and social components. All three of these come into play for individuals on the autistic spectrum.
Many kids with autism are affected by food in ways that neurotypical children are not. My son is on the Feingold Program, a diet that avoids certain salicylates and petroleum-based additives. Other children have found success with gluten-free/ casein-free diets, particularly when they also have celiac disease. Some autistic kids might have lots of food sensitivities, while others may have none.
Even without a specific food concern, kids on the spectrum typically have more pronounced reactions to food, so eating healthfully is even more crucial than for a typical kid who might be “off” after lots of junk food or without a well-rounded diet.
Guest Blogger Terra Wellington is an actress and the author of The Mom’s Guide to Growing Your Family Green: Saving the Earth Begins at Home (St. Martin’s Press). In her book, she outlines a Green School Action Blueprint for making greener and healthier changes at your child’s school. 
For many years I’ve been concerned about the quality of the school lunches fed to my children.
A charter school was my children’s home away from home for several years, and that school didn’t have a cafeteria, so all kids had to bring a lunch from home – one of the best options for most families if you want to improve your child’s lunch diet.
But now that my children are in the regular public school system, it has brought back lots of childhood cafeteria memories … praying my milk wasn’t sour in second grade, shamelessly wishing for tater tots seven days a week as a fourth grader, and watching friends mop up oil off the top of pizza slices with an extra napkin in high school.
Guest Blogger Jason J. Horsley is the CEO and Founder of eFitness for Life, an online fitness solution made up of coaches, registered dietitians, and personal trainers working with clients around the world to enhance overall health and wellness through personalized programs, while teaching the benefits of physical fitness and balanced healthy diets.
Jason Horsely of eFitness for Life
Up until very recently, anyone looking to get in shape, manage their weight, train for an event, prepare for a special occasion or just enhance our overall health and wellness had very limited options. At $60-$150 per hour, the conventional, expensive, dietitian and personal trainer simply aren’t an option for most.
Technology to the rescue! The Internet now makes getting in shape both affordable and convenient. At $60-$90 PER MONTH, online fitness coaching, is all-inclusive, covering diet and exercise and has the ability to help almost anyone, anywhere in the world, change the way they look and feel.
Stephanie Paul has lost 140 pounds through sensible dieting and exercise. Her weight loss story inspires others to lose weight and make long-lasting healthy lifestyle changes. 
My name is Stephanie Paul and I have lost 140 pounds. I was 18-years-old when I started and now I am 21. It was definitely a journey.
As a young child I was tiny and then went on steroids when I was 7-years-old due to a health condition. I grew up a happy child and ate a lot of foods I shouldn’t have eaten. I became an obese child and let food take over my life. I ate when I was happy, sad, and any other emotion that I was feeling. I used to get made fun of in school. To me, I felt nothing wrong with eating high calorie meals and snacks.
I started getting sick of being obese and after my grandmother died of cancer I had to change something about that. I started counting calories and eating healthy. When you start measuring what you eat you figure out that you were eating too much all the time.
The week of August 10 is Healthy Back to School Week at DietsInReview.com.
Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, MS, RD is director of wellness for the International Food Information Council (IFIC). Her work includes conducting consumer and health professional research, developing communication workshops for opinion leaders, speaking at conferences and workshops, and communicating with journalists and the media. Wendy is a certified fitness instructor and has also had a private practice specializing in weight management. She lives in St. Louis with her husband Dan and two sons, Drew and Evan.
For many parents, dealing with an overweight child can be a delicate issue. When it’s time to go back to school, the challenge of balancing healthy eating habits and exercise while building their self esteem can often seem overwhelming. Here are a few steps parents can take at home to get their kids off to a great start at school.
1. Be a role model: Children learn by what they see and observe, so set a good example. Plan family time that focuses on fun while enjoying food and exercise/physical activity together.
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