Picky eaters 101: From stress to success

Tips and tools to help your crew eat healthier

By Kathleen Zelman and Lucille Beseler

Welcome to the inaugural Nutrition4Kids podcast! I am so excited to launch our very first podcast with a topic that most parents can relate to: Picky Eaters; or: when nothing green passes your child's mouth. Today we promise to give you a crash course in picky eaters and help you go from stress to success with tips and tools to encourage your child to eat a healthier diet.  

I am delighted to introduce my friend and our very esteemed guest, Lucille Beseler, who is also a member of our Nutrition4Kids advisory board and a treasure trove of experience and wisdom dealing with finnicky eaters. 

Lucille is a registered dietitian/nutritionist, certified diabetes educator, speaker, entrepreneur, and author of Nurturing with Nutrition, a go-to book that covers everything you need to know about feeding infants and toddlers. She has also served as president of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 

Lucille is president and owner of the Family Nutrition Center of South Florida (FNC). Under her direction, the FNC has developed into a comprehensive practice providing a variety of nutrition services in multiple locations. Since 1991, the FNC has seen over 300,000 children and adults for nutrition evaluation and care.

What picky eaters don't eat and why that's not good

Over half of America's children have a poor diet, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control. Nearly half of those between 1-5 years old don't eat a vegetable a day and 1 in 3 young children don't eat fruit each day. We know how important fruits and vegetables are to providing vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and fiber. 

How can parents get their kids to eat more nutritious foods?

In this podcast episode, Lucille gives parents advice on the importance of role modeling, tips and tricks on what to buy and how to cook vegetables to make them more interesting, little rules children can easily follow, and what foods to avoid. Lucille has great advice on how to handle "food jags" (when a child will only eat one type of food, such as chicken nuggets).

Establishing healthy eating habits

We discuss brain health and development, establishing healthy eating habits early in life, the importance of family meals, the topic of sugar, and we even discuss "screen time." 

Lucille closes by noting that the risk of childhood obesity and related diseases encourages us to help our kids "eat right, from the start." She leaves the listener with powerful tools to help their picky eaters learn to love their fruits and veggies.