Eating Healthy and Having Short Arms
Eating Healthy and Having Short Arms
Kitchen appliances and tools that make cooking accessible for LP adults — plus a tribute to Dr. David Rimoin.
Soapbox Time. 😕 Please, parents! If there is one thing that you can do for your LP child (or any child): teach them to eat healthy and keep their weight down. It IS so easy for LPs to gain weight and even tougher to lose it. I’m not talking about body image. We’re talking about keeping the weight off for health. Weight affects our back and legs most immediately. If an LP teen weighs 100 pounds, they are already the weight of an LP adult before all the life stages that can cause weight gain — Freshman 15 in college, adulthood weight gain from alcohol, fast food, and time constraints. Trust me. With every Freshman 15 in high school and college, I gained the weight. As a woman, I had even more to gain when I got pregnant. The excessive weight can cause neurological back and leg issues. And LPs want to reduce or avoid surgery as much as possible. As much as we would like to live life limitless, we should try to maintain a healthy lifestyle to live life to the fullest!
Yummy, indulging Mexican food!
Like many LP adults my age, I have spinal stenosis issues. I didn’t have dwarf-related health issues until my middle adulthood. Even though I didn’t do tumbling, gymnastics, or other activities that can cause spinal stenosis, I have mild to moderate stenosis that gives me that tingling feeling — like I slept on my hand. Thankfully, my symptoms do not impede my daily life. But I notice that with the slightest weight gain (5 lbs. or more), the tinglies happen more frequently and become more severe. So I try to keep my weight down as much as I can, even when the junk food calls my name. Believe me, they do call my name!
As an LP parent of an LP child, I emphasize healthy eating because obesity, diabetes, and cardiac issues are genetic on both sides of our family. Talk about a double whammy with the dwarfism! If I can teach my children now, hopefully they don’t have health issues early in their lives.
Healthy eating is difficult for everyone. It can be more difficult when a person of short stature cannot reach things in a kitchen to make healthy meals. I think I lose weight just trying to cook a meal — going up and down the two stools in my kitchen. I have one kickstool that I love to literally kick around the floor, and a stable IKEA step stool (the taller Bolmen model) that’s light enough to move with just my foot.
Our Favorite Kitchen Step Stool
A kick stool you can literally nudge across the floor with your foot — no bending down to pick it up and carry it. Rolls easily on the smooth kitchen floor and locks in place the moment you step on it. One of the most practical LP kitchen accessories we own.
In An LP’s House
Adapted from Dr. Seuss’s In A People House
An LP’s house (like ours) has things like . . .
Slow Cooker
Fix it and forget it. A lifesaver on busy days with the kids. Great for Asian stew and soup recipes — especially Filipino dishes. Just reduce the oil and sodium.
Toaster Oven
Use whenever you don’t want to heat the whole oven for a small meal. We make mini pizzas with whole grain English muffins for fun pizza nights.
Rice Cooker
Being Asian, I rely on my rice cooker every day. Use one with a steam basket for rice and steaming fish with veggies simultaneously — a complete healthy meal in one countertop unit.
Cordless Water Kettle
Cordless means you can lift and pour from the counter without wrestling with a cord. Much safer than leaning over a stove burner to boil water.
Magic Bullet
Perfect for making quick sauces in small portions. Compact, countertop height, and easy to operate with shorter arms. I use mine constantly for LP-friendly cooking.
French Press
No reaching up to a coffee machine. Sits right on the counter, easy to operate, and makes excellent coffee. A staple in our LP kitchen.
Jar Opener
Short, wider hands make jar opening one of the most frustrating kitchen tasks for LP adults. An electric jar opener removes the struggle entirely.
Favorite Kitchen Tools for Short Arms
As I was preparing dinner one night, I realized I’m really dependent on a few basic things in my kitchen to cook effectively and efficiently. Otherwise I feel like I’m working with the Jolly Green Giant’s tools. Here are my favorites:
Lots of purposes. For me, its primary job is crushing garlic before chopping — I just can’t do that thing professional chefs do with a knife. Also love it for guacamole. Put a dish towel underneath so the pounding doesn’t damage the countertop.
A chef’s knife is too unwieldy for shorter arms. The Santoku’s shorter, lighter blade is far more manageable. An LP chef friend told me it doesn’t matter the brand — what matters is how you take care of it (sharpening and cleaning). OXO makes excellent ergonomic kitchen tools.
LP hands are smaller and wider — standard oven mitts can slip off while moving a heavy hot dish. I’ve had the best luck with mitts that have a snug fit over a wider hand. Look for high-temperature silicone styles that grip better than fabric alone.
Making Healthy Eating Fun: Bento Boxes
When our son started kindergarten, buying lunch at school was more fun and tempting than bringing from home. Thanks to inspiration from a POLP friend and parent to our LP goddaughter, I started making snack and lunchtime fun with bento boxes. Our son thought it was so fun to open his bento box and find a surprise.
Apple slices and stars with mozzarella sticks cut in half — wrapper pre-started for easier opening.
Turkey sandwich with apples and celery to dip into peanut butter.
I keep fresh fruit and veggies on hand and put a fun spin on them in the bento box. People eat with their eyes first — I try to make it colorful with different shapes while including the major food groups with little if any processed food.
Weight Gain at an Early Age — A Parent’s Question
“Weight/calorie question. For years my son has had extreme stomach issues and has been extremely underweight (achon). In the past year, he has started gaining weight. We are very happy, but he just keeps gaining. So now we need to get realistic about what he eats. I saw the Dr. Judith Hall paper online that outlines 1,000–1,400 calories daily for LPs to maintain weight. Do you think that would also be about right for kids? We have switched over to healthier snacks, but I think that even his meals need to be smaller than they are now. Any experience or advice is appreciated!”
Dwarf Mom’s Answer: It would be best to consult with your geneticist who has experience in dwarfism. My son had weight issues at a very young age — finally, at age 6, he gained weight at a healthy rate. A dietician can tell you how many calories your child consumes and recommend healthy options where your child needs certain vitamins and minerals naturally.
Dr. Judith Hall is a great resource with over 25 years of experience in dwarfism and many published papers. The Health Supervision Guidelines for Achondroplasia serves as an important resource for parents and adult achons. Dr. Julie Hoover-Fong’s paper on Weight for Age Charts for Children with Achondroplasia is also a good reference for general pediatricians who may not be familiar with dwarfism.
Our gastro doc emphasized that it’s not only about what our son eats but his eating habits. She recommended not eating in front of the TV, sitting down and taking time to eat, and not making a big deal when he doesn’t like something — just keep trying later. Our son was sensitive to certain food textures when he had spinal compression. I didn’t give up on making sure he had healthy meals. The book The Sneaky Chef really helped me get ideas on how to get good nutrition into the foods he loved. This change in diet was not an overnight change. It took time to learn to shop healthy and not give in to the tantrums. Today, our son will eat practically anything we serve him — he doesn’t even order from the Kids Menu. One of his most favorite foods would give some grown-ups the willies: sashimi tuna.
This post is dedicated to Dr. David L. Rimoin, who taught me at an early age to take control of my health as an achondroplastic dwarf. With every doctor visit, he had a group of medical students and fellows with him while he explained the “classic markers” of achondroplasia. He always emphasized healthy eating and being active because of my back and legs. Those annual visits to see him made me listen up. Dr. Rimoin was an amazing, compassionate doctor who helped thousands of people in the dwarf community and beyond.
RIP Dr. Rimoin. We will miss you greatly and are indebted to you forever.
What is your favorite kitchen tool or appliance that makes cooking easier as an LP? Share it in the comments — and if you have a healthy recipe that works well for your LP family, we’d love to hear it too.
Thank You! So much for having this site. I am a parent to a child adopted, who is in the 3rd % from her home country – where most people are what would be considered short. We are older and she has a condition that requires all food to be made from scratch. I won’t be around for the next 50 years to cook for her, so I need to find ways to teach her to cook for herself so that when she is on her own she will be healthy and not starve. She is 46 inches right now and cannot see over the top of the stove. She can now reach the bottom of the frig and freezer, counter and dishwasher, but can’t reach the faucet or the microwave. I am worried that cooking traditionally on a stove will be dangerous as if she doesn’t get much taller, she won’t be able to see and if she can see in adulthood, the grease will splatter at eye level. She is 8 now and old enough to start learning to cook, so I have started with a footstool and a rice cooker.
Wish I could try some , it sounds delicious