“PICKY EATING” AND CHILD NUTRITION CONCERNS

Picky eating can be an overwhelmingly frustrating experience for families and children alike. The clinicians at Mindful Eats Nutrition Counseling have received specialized training to help you help your picky eater. We have helped children at all levels of the picky eating spectrum. If your child is experiencing picky eating that is affecting his or her health and happiness as well as your family’s happiness, we are here to help you problem solve and come up with strategies and solutions to restore peace at the dinner table. We usually will start with meeting with the parents first, then will ask you to bring your child at a subsequent visit. If you have any questions about this and wonder if we are the right fit, please email or call to schedule a free 10 minute consultation.

A few of our favorite books for picky eating:

• Child of Mine, Ellyn Satter

• Fearless Feeding, Jill Castle and Maryann Jacobsen

Sometimes picky eating becomes more than your typical picky eating. It's normal for most toddlers to go through “picky” phases that we call food jags.

THE FOLLOWING SITUATIONS INDICATE THAT YOUR CHILD’S PICKY EATING HAS BECOME SOMETHING MORE SIGNIFICANT:

• only a handful of accepted foods,

• severe anxiety at meal times,

• severe picky eating that extends beyond the toddler years,

• nutrient deficiencies from lack of food variety, and a

• significant drop in weight, height, or both on your child’s growth chart.

If your child is experiencing any of these things, PLEASE do not wait to see if he or she grows out of it. Picky eating at this level does not usually resolve on its own and requires the attention of trained professionals to increase food variety.

OTHER CHILD NUTRITION CONCERNS

Our team is trained in pediatric nutrition. If your pediatrician has indicated that there is a reason to be concerned about your child’s nutrition or weight (i.e. falling too low on the growth chart, gaining too much weight or being too high on the growth chart, medical diagnosis with a nutritional component), we can help you come up with a plan to help your child.