Healthy Parenting Handbook with Katie Kimball

There is average picky eating … and then there are the more extreme cases.
Our guest today, Jessica Bodie, PhD, is a psychologist who works with these kids – including her own.
ARFID is Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, and its treatment goes way beyond what I discuss in The Picky Eater Playbook and the No More Picky Eating Challenge. I’m so glad Jessica was able to come and share more about treatment for ARFID with us.
We chatted about:
the reason doctors might look at a growth chart and ignore a parent’s concerns about eating
what Jessica has done with her own son when it comes to his restrictive eating
how ARFID is different than normal picky eating
the strategies I would suggest AGAINST for average picky eaters that Jessica uses
how being uncomfortable might have to be part of becoming more comfortable with food
Listen in now, and check out part 2 when it releases on Thursday!
Resources We Mention for ARFID in Children
If you register for the No More Picky Eating Challenge, there is a questionnaire to help you figure out if you have an extreme picky eater!
Why feeding therapy can backfire with extreme picky eaters
I always suggest finding a therapist versed in the SOS Approach to Feeding if you have an extreme picky eater
Check out my new book at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/pickybook!
Kitchen Stewardship
Raising Healthy Families 
follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook
Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
YouTube shorts channel for HPH
Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast
Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

Sometimes we just need a little mental shift, a small piece of knowledge, an encouragement to break a habit, or a new perspective.
That’s my goal today!
I want to break into the day-to-day habits that might not be serving your kids and help you make a SHIFT – either in your thinking, your dinner routine, or your language.
I challenge you to set one tiny goal for your dinner table after listening, in one of these 3 areas:
Screens
Empathy/Understanding
Starting the Meal
Here’s to small changes making a big impact—just like we do in the No More Picky Eating Challenge!
You’ll learn new routines, pattern interruptions, and way more. And if you’re a reader or like to refer back to information time and again, grab a copy of The Picky Eater Playbook, my new book!

Resources I Mentioned for Picky Eating Habits
My free No More Picky Eating Challenge
Benefits of Family Dinners
My picky eating TEDx talk
Whole chicken in the Instant Pot
BBQ chicken recipe for the slow cooker or Instant Pot
Homemade air-fryer chicken nuggets
Other good habits for the table
Vibrant Blue Oils Parasympathetic blend
Check out my new book at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/pickybook!
Kitchen Stewardship
Raising Healthy Families 
follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook
Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
YouTube shorts channel for HPH
Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast
Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

I was asked a question on a podcast interview the other day that I’ve never been asked before – “WHY are there so many picky eaters these days?”
It really does feel like it’s an epidemic, far different than our childhood.
What gives? I have 4 theories as to the underpinnings, and those lend a hand to create a playbook to avoid picky eating in your own kids if they’re young enough to circumvent bad habits.
That’s GREAT news with MUCH hope!
I’m going to be unpacking a lot of habits, expectations, and attitudes that can banish picky eating power struggles from your mealtimes during the FREE 5-day No More Picky Eating Challenge. We’ve had thousands of families go through the challenge, committing to making one small change each day so that they never again have to say, “I just want my kids to eat what I make!”
Save your Seat!
It has to be said of course that there are many biological root causes to picky eating too, and we’ll dip our toe into that during the challenge as well.
Or if you’re more of a reader—or have done the challenge before and want the information at your fingertips!—you can pre-order my book The Picky Eater Playbook. Along with all the strategies from the challenge, you also get all kinds of stories and examples from my family and other families I’ve worked with.
More Resources to Tackle the Root Causes Behind Picky Eating
My FREE picky eating challenge
My new book, The Picky Eater Playbook
Redefining a “kid’s meal”
Raising successful adults with Julie Lythcott-Haimes
Understanding your highly sensitive child
Reduce stress by raising resilient kids
Solve picky eating with the tiny salad trick
The importance of letting kids play with food
Strategies for kids with sensory processing disorder
Is it picky eating or something deeper?
Picky eating solutions using all 8 senses
10 ways to get kids to eat more veggies with no tricks!
Check out my new book at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/pickybook!
Kitchen Stewardship
Raising Healthy Families 
follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook
Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
YouTube shorts channel for HPH
Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast
Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

What’s healthier for your child: a donut or a muffin?
I know. That sounds like a trick question.
And after decades of talking about real food at Kitchen Stewardship and Kids Cook Real Food, I certainly have some thoughts about the ingredients in both!
But Dr. Dina Rose made an argument in this interview that stopped me in my tracks: From a habits perspective, sometimes the donut might actually have an advantage.
Why?
Nobody is pretending the donut is health food.
A muffin, on the other hand, can easily become a cupcake without frosting that we’ve mentally filed under “healthy breakfast.” Even if we healthify it with whole grains, flaxseed, applesauce, or whatever else we can sneak in there, our kids are still learning something about what breakfast tastes like and what they expect to eat.
That distinction gets right to the heart of my conversation with Dina.
In part one, we talked about her three habits of healthy eating: proportion, variety, and moderation. Now we’re getting even more practical.
How do we talk about candy without making it forbidden fruit?
Should kids have to eat dinner before they get dessert?
What do we do when a child announces, “I’m full!” at dinner and miraculously discovers a second stomach when dessert appears?
And what about the picky eater who refuses even one tiny taste of a new food?
Dina challenges us to stop making every bite of food carry so much emotional baggage. Instead, she gives parents structures that help kids understand what to expect, experience hunger and fullness, and explore unfamiliar foods without Mom or Dad hovering nearby thinking, “Please eat it. Please eat it. PLEASE EAT IT.”
(Our faces never give us away, right?)
This conversation challenged some of the language and rules we were using in my own home at the time. And once again, I walked away realizing that raising healthy eaters isn’t simply about getting the “right” foods into our kids today.
We’re teaching them how to eat for the rest of their lives.
Let’s dig into part two.
Resources We Mention for Changing Eating Habits
Dr. Dina’s book: It’s Not About the Broccoli
My video on “Growing Foods vs. Fun Foods”
Don’t underestimate kids’ taste buds!
Jump into the No More Picky Eating Challenge
Check out my new book at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/pickybook!
Kitchen Stewardship
Raising Healthy Families 
follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook
Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
YouTube shorts channel for HPH
Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast
Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

If you’ve ever bribed a child with dessert to get three more bites of broccoli into their mouth, this interview may mess with your head a little.
In a good way.
Because what if our intense focus on getting healthy food INTO our kids is accidentally teaching them some not-so-healthy habits about eating?
When I first interviewed sociologist, parent educator, and feeding expert Dr. Dina Rose, her ideas challenged the way I thought about feeding my own kids. In fact, this conversation continues to influence how our family handles desserts and sweet treats today.
Dina’s big idea sounds almost too simple: Healthy eating isn’t only about what kids eat. It’s about the habits they’re learning around food.
That means we have to think beyond fruits, vegetables, protein, and all the other nutritional boxes we’re trying desperately to check before bedtime.
Are our kids learning to recognize when they’re hungry and full?
Are they learning to eat a variety of foods?
Are sweets becoming rewards, comfort, or forbidden treasures?
And are we accidentally creating power struggles because we’re so worried about getting those vegetables into them?
Dina boils healthy eating down to three habits: proportion, variety, and moderation. And I have to tell you, thinking in terms of three habits instead of servings, nutrients, and “Did anyone eat something green today?” feels like a breath of fresh air.
In this interview, we’ll dig into why focusing too heavily on nutrition can backfire, how kids’ taste preferences are shaped, why variety does NOT have to mean constantly serving new foods, and how sweets and treats can have a reasonable place in a healthy relationship with food.
Some of Dina’s ideas challenged me when I first heard them.
They still make me think.
And I have a feeling you’ll have a few “Wait...what?” moments too.
Let’s dig in.
Resources We Mention for Changing Eating Habits
Dr. Dina’s book: It’s Not About the Broccoli
My video on “Growing Foods vs. Fun Foods”
Don’t underestimate kids’ taste buds!
Get on the list for the next No More Picky Eating Challenge
Check out my new book at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/pickybook!
Kitchen Stewardship
Raising Healthy Families 
follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook
Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates
YouTube shorts channel for HPH
Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast
Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!