Video: Caregiver Nutrition: Picky Eating

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Video Transcript:

Hi, I'm registered dietitianJill Chodak, and today we're going to talk about picky eating.

0:08
So we see it in our homes, we see it on TV, we talked about at the doctor'soffice sometimes it's all around us.

0:14
And while it's OK to talk about and use this phrase, I'm going to encourage youto think a little bit differently when you talk about it at home.

0:20
The reason being is because if you do have a child that would be considered apicky eater, well, it can snowball.

0:26
If you constantly are labeling this child, or even an adult for that matter, asa picky eater, it becomes part of their identity and then it becomes reallychallenging to get rid of.

0:36
And so instead, there are going to be a couple strategies that I'm going tosuggest that might help you evolve beyond that picky eating.

0:43
So the first is how you phrase it.

0:45
So really what it boils down to, unless there's a clinical condition, is strongfood preferences.

0:51
Now I know that that can sound funny, but really it kind of leans into thechild's autonomy and how they like to choose foods, which can feel actuallyreally good when you're making a bunch of dinners at home.

1:02
It doesn't feel good.

1:02
So I know that, but part of it, what changing the way you say it around yourchild does is it empowers them to know that they do have a choice.

1:13
So that's strategy One is changing how you refer to it for your family, for theadults around you, for the child, is so that they can feel empowered to say,hey, I can have food choices.

1:22
That's OK as a child.

1:24
But then the second part comes in and it talks about the division ofresponsibilities.

1:28
This is very big and I'll have a resource on this in the Ellen SatterInstitute.

1:32
So it's a great resource, talks about, hey, what's the parents responsibilityat the dinner table or the meal table or whatever meal you're eating and what'sthe child's responsibility?

1:41
Now this can differ with age groups, so we're not going to go over that here.

1:46
But what I like to do is say, you know, there's so much going on in a a mealpreparation and a family's life with multiple siblings, things like that.

1:54
And so knowing what your role is as a caregiver in the meal setting based onage, it can be really helpful and taking out extra variables that can makethings challenging.

2:04
So having the confidence to say, all right, well, if my child only wants to eatchicken Nuggets for dinner, but my whole family wants something else, what's myrole as a parent in offering things without kind of breaking my back trying tomake multiple meals?

2:18
Well, the division of responsibilities, again, based on age group will say, asa parent or a caregiver, it's your job to create the safe space for the mealand lay out the meal.

2:28
And it's the child's job to choose how much they eat, again, given the agegroup.

2:33
And so part of what we can do, and we'll continue to talk about this in thevideos to come, is set the stage for saying, OK, family wants, let's thinkmaybe goulash, which is typically, you know, some beef, tomato sauce and somenoodles, right?

2:47
Maybe the child doesn't like that.

2:50
Well, maybe you're serving your goulash family style and you have a safe platewhere there's a couple of chicken Nuggets.

2:57
But the really everybody in the family, everybody else is eating that goulash.

3:00
And instead of kind of talking and bargaining, bargaining about eating thegoulash, now you're talking about the day or OK, honey, you're, you can have,you know, your chicken Nuggets, but really we're having goulash as a familytoday.

3:11
So eat as much as you'd like of, of this or not.

3:14
And then there's no snacks after.

3:16
And again, you have to work with the pediatrician a little bit about this.

3:18
But the moral the story is there are strategies to overcome picky eating.

3:22
And the first starts with labeling a new way and approaching it with yourfamily in a new way.

3:27
I hope you found these tips helpful.

3:28
Look for the resources coming up.

3:30
Thanks.