Healthy Parenting Handbook with Katie Kimball

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!

If part one of my conversation with Dr. Stephanie Gray made you question what you thought you knew about hormones, buckle up. Part two goes even deeper.
Dr. Gray is the author of The Hormone Blueprint, and she has spent years researching and working with women on hormones, thyroid health, metabolism, and hormone replacement therapy.
And moms, this conversation is especially for us.
We get incredibly practical about testing, what may actually be hiding inside hormone prescriptions, and why Dr. Gray believes women need a much more nuanced conversation about HRT, breast cancer, brain health, bones, and aging.
We talk about:
The hormone and thyroid tests Dr. Gray recommends women ask about, including one metabolic marker your doctor may not routinely check
Why she says a “normal” lab result and an optimal result can be two very different things
The surprising inactive ingredients she found inside some hormone prescriptions, including dyes, preservatives, and other ingredients you might never think to look for
Why the way you take hormones matters, from pills and creams to patches and pellets
What happens when you wear an estrogen patch in a sauna. Yes, Dr. Gray actually researched this!
The complicated relationship between HRT and breast cancer, including research Dr. Gray says challenges some long-held assumptions
Why she believes women should consider not only the possible risks of taking hormones, but also the risks of going without them
How hormones may fit into the bigger picture of protecting our bones, brains, cardiovascular health, metabolism, and quality of life as we age
There is a LOT here, and this is definitely an episode where you may want to grab a notebook, jot down questions, and bring them to a healthcare provider who understands hormone health. You can also print off the cheat sheet of the episode – grab it here! 
Because “I guess feeling terrible is just part of getting older” is not a health plan.
Here’s part two of my conversation with Dr. Stephanie Gray.
Resources We Mention for Hormone Replacement Therapy and Hormone Testing
Grab one of Dr. Stephanie’s books: Your Longevity Blueprint (Amazon/Bookshop.org); Your Fertility Blueprint (Amazon/Bookshop.org); Your Hormone Blueprint (Amazon/Bookshop.org).
Get 10% off supplements at Dr. Stephanie’s site with the code KIDS.
Perimenopause could be the best years of your life! with Jenn Pike
More about menopause and hormones with Cynthia Thurlow here and here
How to start and keep with a new habit
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!

Were you scared away from taking hormone replacement therapy?
I was. 100%!
But this conversation with Dr. Stephanie Gray may have changed my mind. 
I’m 46, firmly in the “what is happening to my body and what is ABOUT to happen?” stage of life, and I had definitely absorbed the message that hormone replacement therapy was a Big Scary Decision.
I couldn’t have explained the research. I couldn’t have named the famous study that scared so many women away from hormones. I just had this sense of, “Ooh, probably not for me. I’ll just eat my way to good health and keep my mobility, thankyouverymuch.”
You know what I mean?
That’s exactly why this conversation fascinated me.
Dr. Stephanie Gray has been working with hormones for well over a decade, and she walked me through what actually happened with the research that shaped our cultural fear of hormone therapy, what she believes we got wrong, and some REALLY important distinctions that tend to get flattened into one little word: hormones.
This one gets dense in the best possible way. We’re talking perimenopause, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, delivery methods, heart health, brain health, metabolic health, and why the details matter enormously.
Listen in to hear:
Why the 2002 Women’s Health Initiative study scared a generation of women away from hormone therapy, and the three major problems Dr. Gray sees with how that research was conducted
The surprisingly simple way to tell whether the hormone you’ve been prescribed is actually the same hormone your body makes
Why Dr. Gray says “progesterone” and “progestin” are NOT interchangeable words, even though they’re often treated that way
What oral estrogen has to do with the liver and clotting risk, and why the delivery method of a hormone matters
Patches, creams, pellets, lozenges, injections…oh my! How the options differ and why this definitely isn’t a one-size-fits-all conversation
Why timing matters when women consider hormone therapy, especially around perimenopause and menopause
Dr. Gray’s “healthy house” analogy for understanding estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and thyroid hormones without needing a medical degree
The connection she draws between declining hormones and four major health concerns as we age: cardiovascular disease, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, and metabolic dysfunction
If your entire understanding of hormone replacement therapy is basically, “Wasn’t there a study saying that was dangerous?” you are absolutely not alone.
I was right there with you.
This conversation gave me a LOT more questions to ask, which is exactly where I want to be when I’m making decisions about my health.
Resources We Mention for HRT and Perimenopause Hormones
Grab one of Dr. Stephanie’s books: Your Longevity Blueprint (Amazon/Bookshop.org); Your Fertility Blueprint (Amazon/Bookshop.org); Your Hormone Blueprint (Amazon/Bookshop.org).
Get 10% off supplements at Dr. Stephanie’s site with the code KIDS.
Perimenopause could be the best years of your life! with Jenn Pike
More about menopause and hormones with Cynthia Thurlow here and here
Women build muscle differently – especially over age 30
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!