Snacking American Style: How it turns kids into a picky eaters

May 6, 2013 by

I may have just solved the picky eating problem for about 75 percent of the children who won’t eat their healthy dinners.

The problem is snacking.

Once, I saw one of my French nieces walk through the kitchen, grab something and stick it in her mouth. It surprised me, a lot. I knew immediately something was wrong with that picture. It took me a second to realize: I had literally never seen a French kid (or adult) walk through the kitchen and put something in her mouth like that.

French people don’t do that, you see. They eat only when it’s time to eat. They don’t eat just because they feel cravings, or are bored or stressed. They don’t eat just because they feel like celebrating, or relaxing, or socializing. They only eat if it’s time for breakfast, lunch, goûter (after-school snack, similar to British tea…

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Patio Picnics for Picky Eaters

Apr 23, 2013 by

If you have a picky eater, take her on a picnic. Eating outdoors is just one great way to reduce the pressure and make the dinner table experience more enjoyable, in order to get kids more interested in eating.

For once, improving our lives doesn’t require misery! We need not always increase the pressure or muster up will power, hard work and self-denial. In this case, those are the most counter-productive actions to take.

If you have a picky eater, instead look for ways to create a more pleasant atmosphere at the table. Where pressure and ugliness isn’t getting you anywhere and is probably making the situation worse—not to mention damaging your relationship with your child—a picnic is better at whetting your child’s…

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Dad & the Picky Eater: 4 Steps to Setting Up Kids for Eating Success

Mar 21, 2013 by

Two-year-old Amber knows there’s chocolate cake for dessert. So at dinner, she turns up her nose at the roast chicken and creamed spinach. She’s holding out. So her dad commands her to eat and makes sure she does it. The battle begins. Amber’s secret enjoyment in getting Dad’s goat is even greater than her objection to dinner. It gets ugly, but Dad “wins.” Amber ends up eating the absolute minimum requirement of her dinner, then she gorges on chocolate cake.

“I thought that’s what I was supposed to do: make them eat,” different dads of picky eaters have told me when I suggested otherwise. “I thought I was doing the right thing, just what I ought to do to be a good dad.”

It’s a tough question: Where should we hold the line as parents? When do we let it go? Should we let them eat what they want or make…

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Best book ever for picky eaters and their parents: Bread & Jam for Frances

Oct 1, 2012 by

If you are the parent of a picky eater and haven’t read Bread and Jam for Frances, I would rush right out and get a copy.

In the 1964 children’s classic by Russell Hoban, Frances, a little badger, wanders into the picky zone, but only temporarily. How, within two days, she escapes her rut of eating nothing but bread and jam  is an inspiring tale full of lessons for parents and picky human children alike. It’s beautiful, humorous and understated. I get misty-eyed each time I read it.

A Good Example

First off, I love the father badger in the story. Each meal, he sits down and makes a cheerful and positive comment about what’s on the table.

“What a lovely egg!” he says at breakfast. “Now that’s what I call a pretty sight. Fresh orange juice and poached eggs on toast,” he says the next morning.

“What is there nicer on the plate…

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Free Workshop for Parents of Picky Eaters: How to Shepherd Your Child's Appetite

Jun 7, 2012 by

June 14, 2012
7– 9 p.m.
at La Altura Pediatrics, Dominion Hills Plaza 21195 IH-10 West, Suite 2101  San Antonio, Texas 78257

Are meals a battle?
Having trouble getting kids to eat at the table?
Have you become a short order cook?
Do you make two different meals for one family?

Through this interactive workshop, you will:

  • Identify which tools you are using to try to make kids eat that actually make things worse, and get equipped with the right tools — the ones that work!
  • Find out how to cultivate the right atmosphere and habits in your home so children both eat happily AND behave.
  • Discover how to do less to accomplish more.
  • Learn how to leverage children’s natural appetites to motivate them to want to eat what YOU want them to eat.
  • See how to have more fun in the…
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