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Parenting
In each episode of the Healthy Parenting Handbook Podcast, Katie Kimball, the national voice of healthy kids cooking, interviews experts in fields like nutrition, medicine, psychology, parenting, technology, entrepreneurship and more to help parents get tools to raise healthy, independent kids.
Picky Eating: 4 Possible Cultural Root Causes (& Prevention Strategies)
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!”
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.
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Why We Should Stop Thinking About Nutrition and Build Our Kids’ Eating Habits Instead
Dina Rose, PhD, is our guest today on feeding our kids healthily, and she says she’s not actually against the lollipop at the doctor’s…(insert shock here?)…BUT she still would take it away from her crying daughter!
Why? She has a real issue with dealing with emotion through food, and we talk about that today in this incredible interview that will push your boundaries (and change the way food looks in your house if you listen well).
Here’s just a bit of what you’ll learn:
- Why the discussion about healthy eating isn’t just about healthy food but about why, when, where, and how much you eat.
- Why parents who KNOW they shouldn’t bribe their kids with food or make them clear their plates often do it anyway (and how to reform).
- She calls sugar the USDA’s crazy old aunt that they’re hiding in the attic and not talking about. I love it!
- Do you use the words “balance” when you talk about food? Dina tells us to ditch that term for 3 simple habits: variety, proportion and moderation. But don’t miss her definitions, because “moderation” probably isn’t what you think.
- Yes, we should actually have a cookie on there if the “MyPlate” image was to be improved.
- How what we feed our kids trains their taste buds, and how to make sure we present foods in their proper “categories” to train our kids’ HABITS.
- Why we shouldn’t feed our kids every time they say they’re hungry. It’s about fear, and it’s GREAT advice!
- Got a picky eater who won’t let you serve healthy food? Dina has a whole process for you, too, and it’s NOT about eating.
“HOT” Hormones & Exactly What to Ask Your Doctor
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.
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How to Avoid Dying Early for Moms
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.
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5 Ways to Help Your Kids Build a More Regulated Nervous System
What should you do when your child is overwhelmed, melting down, refusing to cooperate, or acting like they cannot handle something you know they can do?
In part two of this conversation, Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge explains how parents can help kids build a more regulated nervous system before, during, and after stressful moments. She shares why parents should regulate first, connect second, and correct only after a child is calm enough to think and learn. Here’s part one if you missed it.
You’ll also learn why constantly rescuing kids from discomfort can prevent them from building stress tolerance, how to support a child without immediately fixing the problem, and why small daily regulation practices can make a big difference over time.
Dr. Roseann shares a simple 4-7-8 breathing practice parents can use throughout the day to lower stress and build greater nervous system capacity! This is just one of at least 5 solid techniques Dr. Ro shares with us, things you can implement right away at home.
Don’t forget to check out Dr. Roseann’s new book, The Dysregulated Child.
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Nervous System Regulation: Helping Kids Move from Chaos to Calm
When your child is melting down, refusing to listen, shutting down, or exploding over something small, their nervous system may be overwhelmed—not ready for more words or discipline.
Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge, a longtime friend of mine and Raising Healthy Families, explains what happens in the brain when kids become dysregulated and why their ability to think logically can temporarily go offline. She shares how a child’s “stress cup” fills up, why parents and kids can co-regulate or co-dysregulate, and why your own nervous system is one of the most powerful parenting tools you have.
You’ll also learn why the middle of a meltdown is usually the worst time to reason with your child, how to use a simple three-second “love pause,” and why regulation needs to come before teaching, correcting, or problem-solving.
This episode gives parents practical ways to respond with fewer words, more calm, and a better understanding of what their child’s behavior may be communicating.
If this episode hits a nerve, make sure you grab a copy of Dr. Ro’s new book, The Dysregulated Child.
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Philosophy Shifts about Feeding My Family
In the previous episode, I talked about my first two philosophy shifts when it comes to how I feed my own kids and talk about picky eating. We dealt with the “no thank-you bite” and how/when to serve dessert. I’m truly grateful for the professionals who helped me change my thinking and my ways!
Today, we’ll dive into three other mindset changes I’ve had when it comes to feeding kids. The first has to do with introducing foods to babies, which isn’t actually a part of The Picky Eater Playbook—but it’s still something to consider and an important first step for parents!
Then we will get into how our food looks (does it matter?) and briefly touch on kids who really WOULD starve themselves if they aren’t served certain foods.
You’ll learn:
- why I think eczema and food sensitivities might have been caused by Paul and Leah’s first foods
- what first foods I think work best for babies
- why I started rethinking “you don’t taste with your eyes” and how cute foods might actually be more appealing to children
- what working with 20,000 families taught me about my stance that kids will eat eventually, they won’t starve
- how to reduce pressure at family meals
- and why the laid-back way I wrote The Picky Eater Playbook means you will probably be able to adapt it for your family!
I’m outlining all the pre-order bonuses for you, too, so make sure to listen or watch to the end of the episode. I sure hope you’ll think it’s worthwhile to pre-order a copy of the book and delve into making dinnertime a more peaceful time for your whole family.
You deserve that, Mom, and so do your kids! Get out of the chicken nugget and pizza rut. It CAN be better.
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Why I Stopped Using the “No Thank You Bite”
Have you ever given parenting advice with total confidence…only to learn a few years later that you had it completely wrong?
I have.
After 21 years of feeding kids, 17 years of writing about healthy families, and a whole lot of conversations with picky eating experts, there are a few things I used to teach that I simply don’t anymore.
And I think it’s important to talk about them.
In this episode, I’m sharing some of the biggest changes I’ve made in my picky eating philosophy—and why learning more sometimes means being willing to do a complete 180. We’re digging into two especially common feeding practices: requiring kids to take a “no thank you bite” and making dessert something they have to earn by eating enough dinner.
You’ll hear:
- Why I no longer recommend requiring even one bite of a new food
- The simple phrase that can take an enormous amount of pressure off picky eaters
- Why making dessert a reward may accidentally make it even more desirable
- How our family shifted from “eat enough dinner to get dessert” to choice within boundaries
- Why there probably isn’t one perfect dessert rule that works for every child and every family
And we’re only halfway through my list!
This is Part 1 of a two-part episode. In Part 2, I’ll share the rest of the major picky eating philosophies I’ve changed my mind about, including a powerful story of one child’s transformation and more of what I’ve learned while writing The Picky Eater Playbook.
If you’ve ever wondered whether the feeding advice you’ve heard (or even followed for years!) is actually helping your child build a healthy relationship with food, this conversation is for you.
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Helping Kids Practice Bravery
What if one of the best things you could do for an anxious, frustrated, or struggling kid is…do a little less?
I know. Every parenting instinct in us is screaming, “Help them! Fix it! Tell them it’s going to be okay!”
But Dr. Kathryn Hecht says there’s a problem with that last one: We’re not wizards. We actually don’t know that everything is going to be okay, and our kids are smart enough to know it too.
So what can we say instead?
In this episode, Dr. Hecht gives us an incredibly simple formula that combines empathy with confidence, plus a 10-second parenting rule that might be harder to practice than it sounds. We’re talking about how to help kids do hard things, tolerate frustration, become more independent, and build real confidence without throwing them into the proverbial deep end.
And I love this because we’re not talking about manufacturing scary experiences for our kids. We’re talking about the everyday stuff. Buttons. Homework. Birthday parties. Trying something new. All those little moments when we have to decide: Do I swoop in, or do I give my child a chance to discover, “Oh. I can handle this.”
If you want to raise kids who see uncertainty less as a threat and more as something they can navigate, keep listening. This one is practical enough to use today.
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Raising Kids Who Can Handle Hard Things
What if one of our most loving parenting instincts is accidentally making our kids less confident?
Oof.
As parents, we’re wired to help. To reassure. To rescue. To make the crying stop in the grocery store before everyone in aisle seven starts judging us. (You know what I mean?)
But child psychologist Dr. Kathryn Hecht says kids aren’t nearly as fragile as we sometimes treat them.
In fact, they need age-appropriate challenges to build what she calls “handleability,” that deep-down belief that says: This is hard, but I can handle it.
I absolutely loved this conversation because it gets right into the practical question so many of us are wrestling with: How do we raise kids who can actually handle hard things?
We dig into:
- Why constantly removing obstacles can undermine a child’s confidence, even when we’re doing it out of love
- The fascinating idea that kids are anti-fragile, and why some stress and challenge actually help build emotional resilience
- Why “healthy kids = happy kids” is a parenting myth we may need to toss out
- How rescuing a child brings short-term relief but can create more distress long-term
- Why our kids sometimes interpret our help as evidence that they couldn’t have handled it themselves
- What “coping efficacy” or “handleability” looks like in normal family life, without turning your home into a psychology clinic
- Why exposure therapy is much less scary than it sounds, and how parents can help kids take small, voluntary steps toward something difficult
- The difference between roller-coaster scary and horror-movie scary, and why that distinction might completely change how you help an anxious or hesitant child
Dr. Hecht has this incredible ability to take clinical psychology and turn it into language that makes you think, “Ohhhh. I can actually use this with my kid.”
And I have a feeling you’ll finish this one looking at your child’s next hard moment a little differently.
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