Does your child eat well at breakfast but refuse dinner? Or perhaps they loved veggies last year but won’t even touch them now?
I’m excited to have Katie Kimball, who is on a mission to connect families around healthy food and teach children to cook, with me for a two-part series.
In Part 1 today, we explore several reasons why your child might be a picky eater, and Katie clarifies how to figure out which one might be affecting your child.
How to help picky eaters:
- Look for patterns in what your child struggles to eat, rather than focusing only on what they refuse to eat
- Establish regular meal and snack times, keeping meals and snacks at least 90 minutes apart
- Let children serve themselves as soon as they are able
- Respond calmly and avoid pressuring your child to eat
- Avoid power struggles around food
- Allow children to touch, smell, or explore foods at their own pace
Bio:
Katie Kimball of Raising Healthy Families is on a mission to connect families around healthy food and teach every child to cook! Her TEDx talk “Picky Eating Isn’t About the Food” inspired a membership called The Picky Eating Playbook, and now a book being published in November 2026 through Familius Press.
Listen to the Episode
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In this episode:
- Why younger children may struggle with frustration while older children generally become better at regulating themselves
- How dysregulation can show up in adults
- Why rewards, consequences, and timeouts often fail with dysregulated children, and how to help them
- Why screens should not be used as a coping tool for dysregulated children
- How parents can prevent and manage screen time conflicts
- How your child’s nervous system can sync with your nervous system
- How unresolved stress can continue to affect people later in life
- Why you should practice regulation when you are already calm
In this episode:
- What may lie behind a child’s refusal to eat certain foods
- How sensory sensitivities can make some foods difficult to tolerate
- How to avoid power struggles around food
- What to do when children ask for snacks outside their regular meal and snack times
- How to limit snacks and second helpings
- How learning to cook can help children become more willing to mix foods
- How to introduce new foods to picky eaters
Links and Resources:
Support the launch by purchasing your copy on September 29th! Available at YourLongevityBlueprint.com, with local copies coming to the Integrative Health and Hormone Clinic in Eastern Iowa this October.
Your Longevity Blueprint Omega 3s – 60 capsules
Use code HEALGUT to get 10% off GI Support
Guest Social Media Links:
Raising Healthy Families: Healthy Parenting Handbook Podcast
Relative Links for This Show:
Free Knife Skills Class For Kids
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