Picky Eating Network

Here’s how it works

Recorded Trainings

The Complete Guide to Assess the Picky Eater

• Define ‘picky eater,’ ‘problem feeding’ & ‘Pediatric Feeding Disorder’

• Diagnose reasons for picky eating from medical to oral motor, sensory, family meal dynamics & caregivers relationship with food

• Determine when to involve other health care providers in the child’s care plan

• Assess growth and nutrition

• Apply with a case study example of a full assessment

Practical Strategies to Implement the Division of Responsibility

• Complete a literature review of the research behind the Division of Responsibility (DOR) in feeding

• Learn how to break down the DOR and construct a plan for teaching these concepts to parents

• Review how to apply the DOR in three case studies (a problem feeder, a child with growth concerns and a “sweet-obsessed” child)

Strategies to Deal with Sensory Difficulties with Picky Eaters

• Identify which 8 senses are used in eating and warning signs a child might be an over or under-responder in all of these senses

• Review play-based activities for each of the senses

• Determine how to make it easier for children to eat and expand their food selection

• Summarize a case study of how to apply these strategies in a child with multiple sensory challenges

The Theory and Implementation of Responsive Feeding

• Define responsive feeding

• Compare responsive feeding to other forms of treatment for picky eaters

• Recognize how responsive feeding can work for problem feeders or children with autism or ARFID

• Apply responsive feeding treatment in a case study of a problem feeder

Why Children with Autism Struggle with Eating & Treatment Strategies that Work

• Determine why children with autism may have difficulty eating, including the prevalence and specific challenges that are common

• Review evidence for popular dietary supplements and diets for treating autism and whether they work

• Apply strategies to treat children with autism in a case study

How to Offer Virtual Services

• Discuss why virtual services are a growing trend and how we can apply them to our current businesses

• Determine potential venues to find customers & methods of marketing

• Apply strategies to treat children with ASD in a case study

• Consider legal concerns with virtual practice (registration, insurance etc)

The Impact of Oral-Motor Issues on Picky Eaters and What to do About Them

• Review normal oral motor development and how to support this in children

• Assess oral motor red flags

• Discuss tools and exercises to support oral motor development

• Summarize oral motor treatment strategies with multiple case studies of children with different oral motor challenges

How to counsel parents with older picky eaters & how the DOR evolves

• Review of the Division of Responsibility & discuss how the model changes when feeding pre-teen/teenagers

• Give children more responsibility on their own and for family meals & cooking

• Review a case study of an adolescent with weight gain and how to address it using DOR

Sensory Difficulties Part 2 & Food Chaining

• Review senses required for eating

• Adapt sensory strategies for the pre-teen/teenager

• Food Chaining: modify foods by texture and colour and taste examples

• Review sensory strategies with a case study of a pre-teen, using ‘food exploration’ and food chaining

How to work with parents of picky eaters who themselves have a poor relationship with food and weight inclusive nutrition care for children

Perhaps no factor other than a parent's own relationship with food will have a greater influence on both a child's present nutritional intake as well as long-term risk of disordered eating, but are we assessing parents' eating attitudes when evaluating the children in our care? In this session, participants will learn the ways in which a parent's own attitudes towards food and bodies can impact their child's eating, how to asses relevant parental factors when evaluating a child's feeding issues and how to introduce strategies for encouraging healthy relationships with food and bodies for the whole family.

Speaker: Diana K Rice, RD

Diana K Rice is a registered dietitian and a mom of two. Her passion is helping families have healthy relationships with food. She is a Health at Every Size (HAES®) provider and an anti-diet dietitian, who became an RD after working in media for several years. She now runs an Oklahoma-based family nutrition counseling practice where she works with both children and adults. She is also an educator and public speaker, working to inform both professionals and the general public on the benefits of utilizing a weight-inclusive approach in pediatric care.

• Identify the importance of a parent’s relationship with food on long-term mental and physical health

• Recognize red flags that may indicate a parent’s own disordered eating when seeking out nutrition care for their child

• Evaluate a parent’s food behaviors that are relevant to the child’s care and recognize when to refer the parent onto more intensive care by another practitioner

• Discuss strategies for encouraging a healthy relationship with body and weight for the whole family

The impact of craniofacial growth and development on children's overall health with Dr Annie-Pier Dumoulin, dmd (dentist)

Annie-Pier Dumoulin, DMD, dentist, will discuss the required conditions for normal craniofacial development and how to detect signs of dentofacial developmental abnormalities. She will review the possible impacts that abnormal dentofacial development can have on health. She will also discuss normal development of facial structure, how to detect signs of abnormalities with facial development, and the potential impacts that may have on overall health as well as feeding and eating. Finally, she will review when and to whom to refer to as part of the multidisciplinary team. They will end with a case study and group discussion.

Speaker: Dr. Annie-Pier Dumoulin, dmd

Dr. Annie-Pier Dumoulin is a general dentist in a private clinic on the South Shore of Montreal. For her, dentistry represents meeting of human relations, creativity, manual work and science. She obtained her doctorate in dentistry at Laval University in 2015. In the years that followed, she trained in medical hypnosis, occlusion and temporomandibular joint disorders, pediatric dentistry and dentofacial orthopedics. She believes in the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in the follow-up of children's development because a child who grows up healthy contributes to the health of the adult to come. It was while listening out of curiosity to a conference by the Picky Eating Network that she realized the importance and interrelation between craniofacial development and picky eating.

• Understand the conditions required for the harmonious development of the face

• Detect the signs of abnormal dentofacial development and the possible impacts on overall health

• Know when and to whom to refer as part of an interdisciplinary approach

• Understand normal development of facial structure

• Detect the signs of abnormal facial development 

• Discuss the potential impacts on overall health and feeding/eating

• Know when and to whom to refer as part of an interdisciplinary approach

• Case study
  

Unpacking Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) Treatment Approaches

ARFID has been recognized as a feeding & eating disorder since 2013.  This has generated much interest and research in treatment to support individuals and families living with ARFID.  Our understanding of ARFID has continued to emerge over the past decade. Three therapy approaches will be discussed in this webinar.  Participants are invited to critically examine practice paradigms pertaining to ARFID treatment.  Relevant clinical constructs such as acceptance vs compliance, neurodiversity and weight inclusivity will also be explored, along with a case study.

Speaker: Grace Wong MSc, RD, CEDS-S

Grace Wong MSc, RD, CEDS-S is a registered dietitian specializing in feeding and eating disorders. Grace is experienced in working with a broad range of eating challenges along with complex co-existing conditions including medical conditions, developmental concerns, mental health concerns, addictions, and trauma. Besides her clinical practice, she provides training and supervision for health professionals in Canada and overseas. She also works with a group of multidisciplinary colleagues in developing the Responsive Feeding Therapy framework and professional resources for ARFID.

• Identify key elements of Family-Based Treatment (FBT)-ARFID and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (CBT-AR) 

• Identify clinical application tools of Responsive Feeding Therapy

• Identify 2 treatment considerations of ARFID from a critical perspective

How parenting styles affect feeding dynamics & working with different families

In this presentation, learn how parenting approaches affect feeding and which parenting approach has the best outcome for raising kids with a healthy relationship to food. We will also share what you need to teach your families so that they can effectively support their children at mealtime. We will cover parental mindset, creating a good atmosphere around mealtime, managing and preventing power struggles, how to support kids around feeding boundaries and more. We will also cover how to create strong family connections and communication to support healthy feeding.

Speaker: Sarah Rosensweet

Sarah Rosensweet is a certified peaceful parenting coach, speaker, and educator. She lives in Toronto with her husband and three big kids (ages 16, 19, and 22). Peaceful parenting is a non-punitive, connection-based approach that uses firm limits with lots of empathy. Sarah works one-on-one virtually with parents all over the world to help them go from frustrated and overwhelmed to, “We’ve got this!”.

• What are different parenting styles and how do they affect feeding? 

• How to work with families who don’t have a responsive parenting style. 

• How to set and enforce feeding boundaries 

• How to get teens to talk
  

Controversies in the World of Picky Eating (Division of Responsibilities and Nutrition Education) + Case Study

The Division of Responsibility (DOR) has always been considered the gold standard in the world of feeding kids, but is it time for a shift in perspective? Is the DOR anti intuitive eating, fatphobic, ableist and non-trauma-informed? How is social media amplifying the issue? And how are health professionals supposed to figure it all out?

Some health professionals believe that using nutrition education is a helpful way to encourage kids to eat specific foods. They think comments like “milk is good for your bones” or “carrots are good for your eyesight” will encourage the child to drink milk and eat carrots. Do these comments actually encourage kids to eat particular food? Or are they just forms of pressure which ultimately backfires? Who is right, and what works best for kids?

Speakers: Jennifer House, MSc, RD, Jessica Coll, RD

How Anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Can Affect Picky Eating

Picky eating is driven by various factors; the list includes sensory difficulties, negative experience with foods, and psychological and environmental components. This training is going to focus on the psychological aspects, to dig deeper into anxiety and OCD, and how it relates to picky eating. Let’s be clear - not all picky eaters suffer from anxiety or OCD and these conditions also occur independently of picky eating...but those conditions, with regards to a picky eater, need to be addressed differently, and that’s why it’s important to discuss it.

Speaker: Jennifer House, MSc, RD

Guest speaker: Natasha Daniels, child therapist

Learning objectives:

• Describe anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder

• Discuss the relationship between anxiety, OCD, and picky eating habits

• Explore strategies to identify and manage the challenges observed in this population

Interoception: The Least Discussed Sense but Maybe the Most Relevant

Interoception is a sense that most people tend to forget about. Our ability to feel and understand what is going on inside our bodies is based on this sense: it allows for necessary self-regulation. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to sense hunger, temperature, or sensory overload, and therefore self-regulate. This training will focus on picky eaters who cannot notice these cues and how we can best address this as health professionals.

Speaker: Kristen Kaszuba, OT

Learning objectives:

• Discuss the concept of interoception, its role in feeding and sensory processing, and how it relates to picky eaters

• Explore the role of impaired interoception and recognize the signs that may indicate an interoceptive challenge

• Discuss practical strategies and interventions to improve interoception in picky eaters

Felt Safety: Often the Missing Piece at the Dinner Table

Speaker: Karen Dilfer, MS, OTR/L Occupational Therapist

Feeding is a relationship that involves a sense of trust and security between children and their parents. Incorporating a sense of felt safety at the meal will allow for a positive and successful feeding environment. This training will focus on the best way to ensure that children develop a confident, developmentally appropriate, and joyful approach to feeding.

Learning objectives:

• Discuss the term “felt safety,” what it is, and why it matters at the table

• Understand common mistakes that lead to dysregulation

• Discuss how to incorporate evidence-based strategies to support feeding and allow for “felt safety”