Healthy Parenting Handbook with Katie Kimball

Sensory Processing Disorder refers to difficulties that happen in some children where their brain struggles to make sense of input coming from the sensory environment. Information comes to our brain through our five senses. The brain has to make sense of it so that we can react appropriately. The brains of kids with SPD struggle to make sense of this information quickly and effectively.This usually impacts eating in some way. There is a difference between picky eaters and kids with true feeding disorders. Kids that are picky won’t eat some foods, but at least they have a range of foods they eat. Kids with feeding disorders usually have less than 20 foods in their diet, and they may even be brand or presentation specific.Usually, the first step for BOTH of these types is exposure to new foods without expecting them to eat them. Listen to the interview to find out how to get kids to eat a wider variety of foods by asking them not to eat!Resources We Mention for Sensory Processing Disorder and Picky EatersMore on problem feeders vs. picky eaters and strategies for picky eatersMary Voogt is an expert on SPD as well because her own kids struggle with sensory processing. Here is a post on her own blog, my interview with her about eating styles, and her post on Kitchen StewardshipHop into the No More Picky Eating ChallengeMy episode with Renae Fieck on raising kids with sensory processing disorderDr. Beurkens' book Life Will Get Better Find Dr. Beurkens on her website Kitchen Stewardship Raising Healthy Families follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

See full show notes at kidscookrealfood.com/009. Plenty of parents complain about their kids being "so darn picky!" (including me, even though I know I shouldn't use that word!).But what IS a picky eater, really?Did you know:Only about 1/3 of kids are actually picky, although 50% struggle age 2-3.Only about 25% of kids outgrow it.5-10% are problem feeders and need professional help.Dr. Kay Toomey explains how parents can determine if their "severity" meter is accurate when it comes to their kids eating. Do you have a problem feeder who is truly extreme? Or just a picky eater? These questions will help you determine!And the craziest part -- it might not all be in your child's head, even if they are having trouble accepting a wide variety of foods.It turns out that what matters is how much it takes to chew, physically, and what food feels/looks/tastes/sounds like etc. to the child. Some picky eaters just never learned to chew properly! :o #mindblownHere you'll get help understanding WHY your kids are so wiggly at dinner, the special chair that could make all the difference, and more practical tips and picky eater solutions.According to Dr. Toomey, it takes real intentionality to help your kids expand their palates — most kids won’t just “grow out of it” like we secretly hope!From the extra little plate you’ll now set on the table to the way in which food is served, to your rules about who moves (the food or the kid), your routines are about to be turned upside down! But if your kids eat better with fewer power struggles…isn’t it worth it?Resources We Mention to Help Picky EatersFind Dr. Kay Toomey online hereDownload the Picky Eaters vs Problem Feeders PDFThe importance of family dinnersHow to teach your kids to clean up after a mealThe importance of letting kids play with their food10 Ways to prepare vegetables for picky eatersBig encouragement for kids to try new foodsRecipe for picky eaters: blended green soupThe magic of the tiny saladThe Tripp Trapp Chair by StokeyKeekaroo Height Right Chair by Special Tomato Kitchen Stewardship Raising Healthy Families follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

Picky eating has always been a tricky challenge for parents, but did you know it’s been getting worse in the last few decades and particularly since the stress of the pandemic?Parents are frustrated and not sure what to do, partly because the root cause of picky eating is often not even in the food itself.I’ve been teaching kids to cook for eight years and realized that what parents need most isn’t the cooking (at least they don’t think they do), but the eating part. I started using my background as an elementary educator and mom of 4 to tackle the picky eating problem, and people had a lot of success with my suggestions.Then I was trained a few years ago by an incredible picky eating expert, Dr. Kay Toomey, and I learned even more, especially about root causes. It’s my honor to work with parents on a regular basis to reduce the stress at their kitchen tables and help their kids build a great relationship with food.My P.E.P. Club (Picky Eating Playbook) membership includes plenty of opportunities for Q&A, and I thought it might be interesting to give you a peek into some popular Qs about picky eating today.Katie will be interviewing…Katie. Ha!Hope you enjoy learning about:strategies for getting a child to drink morepromoting family unity at mealtimedealing with kids who change their minds about foodhandling junk food at other people's housesmotivating kids to come to the tableand helping kids get more comfortable with foodsPicky Eating Resources We Mentioned TodayRegister for the No More Picky Eating Challenge today!Homemade Smart Water and Homemade Electrolyte DrinkWhat is a highly sensitive person?Check out the free knife skills classI let my real-food kids try soda pop. See what they thought! Kitchen Stewardship Raising Healthy Families follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

I realized during this interview (and never before) that my own husband had a tic off and on for years in our early marriage and before.Seriously!He was always told it was either neurological/anxiety or that he should see an eye doctor (who didn’t know what to do). For years we tried to figure out environmental patterns like what season or climate/city/state it might happen in or stop happening after being present for a few weeks.But what if…it was all in his GUT???We’ve done a lot of gut healing for him over the years, including reversing a chronic autoimmune disease, and he hasn’t experienced the blinking for a really long time.If you’re interested at all in the gut-brain connection and how to help kids on the spectrum and/or with tics resolve them, OR how to help your own kids understand how to talk about and interact lovingly and respectfully with kids struggling with something like a tic, this is a must-listen.Dr. Piper Gibson needed answers so badly for her own son that she left the SAHM mom life and went back to school to find a solution that no one else could give her. (Spoiler: There’s a reason she’s known as a tic expert, and wait until you hear how it all went with her son!)Get the KCRF knife skills video at kidscookrealfood.com/freeknifeskills!Resources We Mention for Gut HealthReducing chronic inflammation in kidsApplying functional medicine to autismWhat’s Making Our Children Sick?  by Dr. Michelle Perro (Amazon/Bookshop.org)Strategies to help kids go gluten and dairy-freeStrategies to help kids with SPD to eatWatch a mini-interview I did with Piper about her new book on tics!Tic Talk by Dr. Piper Gibson Find Dr. Piper Gibson onlineFollow her on social media: Facebook, Instagram Kitchen Stewardship Raising Healthy Families follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

Six million kids in America are diagnosed with ADHD.ADHD expert and health practitioner Dana Kay asks a very important question about that number: How many of those diagnoses are real ADHD?Her story will bring tears to your eyes but also hope to your heart, and after helping her own son find healing, this fierce mama bear is now on a mission so that other families with this diagnosis don’t have to struggle as hers did.The 2 BEST truth bombs of the interview?I learned what it looks like when a child whose gut is inflamed stops eating gluten. This may change your life!We established that chores build executive function, and since kids with ADHD struggle with executive function — what better muscle to build than their pre-frontal lobe?!Whether you have a child with ADHD in your life, struggle with any other neuro-diversity including anxiety, or just want to learn more about the gut-brain connection and how you can bring hope to other parents, this interview is a fast-paced winner.We discuss:The powerful effect of the gut on our brain health and why that mattersThe 3 inflammatory foods Dana suggests all her client families remove (and some crazy effects beyond what you’d expect!)How community can make all the differenceThe role of chores and cooking in a child’s healing processThe HOPE she offers to all families who aren’t loving the slippery slope of medication (and the GRACE she offers to those who choose meds but want other options too) Resources We Mention for ADHD DiagnosisPractical solutions for ADHD symptomsStrategies to help your kids manage stress and anxietyWhite sugar and chronic inflammationQuenching inflammation in kidsGuide to going gluten and dairy-free with kidsDana's free Facebook groupFind Dana onlineDana's 2022 book, Thriving with ADHD: A Guide to Naturally Reducing ADHD Symptoms in Your Child Check out Dana's free masterclass on reducing ADHD symptoms hereFollow her on social media: Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube Kitchen Stewardship Raising Healthy Families follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

Our interview guest today has been a journalist and writer for many years and earned herself the title of “Worst Mom in America.” I’m so proud to interview her because she earned that title when she let her 9-year-old ride the subway alone and wasn’t afraid to write about it in a major publication. 🙂Growing wings from the firestorm that ensued, she published a book called Free-Range Kids and has been an advocate for letting kids grow ever since. She encourages legislation to protect parents when they are making wise choices for their children’s independence and even has a nonprofit offering curriculum to schools and families with the sole purpose of encouraging adults to step back so that children can step up.If you want to raise healthy, independent adults, this half-hour will enlighten and inspire you, edifying you to push back in the face of a culture that seems to be flying away with helicopter parenting.Let’s ground that movement!Resources We Mention to Raise a Confident ChildLenore’s websiteLet Grow Independence Kit: FREE to download — there are ideas for things your kids to do independently and an explanation of how independence makes kids less anxious, more confident, and competent.Follow Let Grow on social media: Facebook, Instagram, and X.Follow Lenore on social media: Facebook and X.Lenore’s book Free-Range Kids (Amazon/Bookshop.org)Range by David Epstein (Amazon/Bookshop.org)Benefits of letting kids fail with Jessica LaheyRaising adults with Julie Lythcott-HaimesChallenges to raising adults in today’s cultureFree knife skills class from me!Find today's show notes, video, and time-stamped "skim notes" at https://www.kidscookrealfood.com/005.  Kitchen Stewardship Raising Healthy Families follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

Amy McCready, a positive parenting expert and founder of Positive Parenting Solutions, shares her transformative insights into discipline. She reveals why consequences often fail and highlights the pitfalls of relying on rewards, which can hinder intrinsic motivation. Listeners learn practical phrases to foster ownership in children and discover the benefits of involving kids in cooking to enhance their skills. Additionally, Amy tackles common parenting mistakes, promoting consistency and kindness in discipline while encouraging a positive mindset shift with the phrase 'I get to'.

We're so glad you've joined us, mindful parents, for this podcast on raising healthy, independent kids. 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. For lifelong learners only, the Healthy Parenting Handbook podcast will improve your connection with your kids, boost your confidence as a parent, and bring clarity about what you can DO to keep your kids physically and mentally healthy while you grow together as a family.Show NotesVisit Kitchen Stewardship, where Katie Kimball helps families stay healthy without going crazyCheck out the Monday Missions, baby steps to more natural livingKids Cook Real Food siteget notified about the next No More Picky Eating ChallengeCheck out the free knife skills video hereSOS Approach to FeedingPicky Eaters vs. Problem Feeders with Dr. Kay ToomeyScience Gives Parents the Solution for Picky Eaters with Dr. Kay Toomey"Picky Eating Isn't about the Food" TedX talkWe Bike Our Kids to School without ApologyTroomi phonesInterview with Shannon MillerSubscribe here!YouTube channel Kitchen Stewardship Raising Healthy Families follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

We all know that most pediatricians get about 2 hours of nutrition training, which means some of them give food advice and probably shouldn’t and most don’t bother with food at all.But FOOD is the ROOT CAUSE of so much of what ails our kids!Dr. Song goes above and beyond normal MD training with all her holistic background and she’s 150% qualified to tell us a little about our kids’ diets.Today we’ll talk about:What has changed in the “kid food” scene in the last 50 yearsWhat is the worst “food” kids are eating these daysHow food additives can affect behaviorWhat kids should be eating to fuel their bodiesPractical tips for how we as parents can feed our kids well (and teach them to make healthy choices for themselves!)Don’t you just love Dr. Song? She’s about the only reason I’d ever consider moving to California, just so that she could be our kids’ doctor. I’m so honored to share her wisdom with you today!!!Get the free knife skills class here!Find Dr. Elisa Song on her site Healthy Kids, Happy Kids or on Facebook or Instagram.  You can also sign up for her video course here. (Affiliate link)Resources We Mention About Feeding KidsMy previous interview with Dr. SongHealthy Snacks Skill LabHealthy Breakfast Skill LabWe show some healthy snack options on the news in this videoThe Feingold DietHealthy Kids, Happy Kids article on food dyesHow to make bone brothFish oil post on Kitchen StewardshipMudball recipe – contains pumpkin seeds for zinc!My eBooks with healthy snack and healthy breakfast recipesA bunch of breakfast recipes that include veggies (Like these egg and veggie bites!) Kitchen Stewardship Raising Healthy Families follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!

Chicken nuggets.Pizza.Burgers and fries.Mac and cheese.What do all those foods have in common?They're identified as "kid food" by children and adults alike.What else? They're often served in a highly processed, low-nutrient fashion, and I don't see many veggies on the list.My guest today, Bettina Elias Siegel, has been an advocate for school food reform for over 10 years, and her first book Kid Food broadens that mission by pushing for societal change in all the places people feed our kids, market "food" to them, and set our standards of what kids will eat.If you believe the bar should be raised for kids wayyyyyy beyond and beige and bland, you're in the right place today.We dig into some of the more surprising facts Bettina uncovered while researching for Kid Food, such as:The history of kids' menus and why they were created in the first placeThe role of obesity in kids' health (spoiler: NOT as influential as you might think!)Recent research about ultra-processed food and how it affects children in particularHow young kids start shifting their diets away from veggies and nourishment  (and the disastrous role of one particular "food" we eat way too much of)A few unique "wins" that the pandemic has offered us in our schools and in our homesHow marketing food to kids shapes their thoughts (and why we need to reclaim their palates!)The importance of kids being involved in the process, both talking about food and creating it...And so much more! You'll be inspired by this conversation and ready to change the world, starting in your own home.Get the free knife skills class here!See all the show notes as well as time-stamped skim notes at kidscookrealfood.com/003.Resources We Mention About Kid FoodYou can dig deep into 10 years of Bettina's writing hereFollow Bettina on social media:  Twitter, Instagram, FacebookBuy the book on Amazon or at Bookshop.orgBettina's video about marketingJoin the Kids Meal Revolution today!Some tips for teaching kids about marketingTeaching kids to be "marketing-proof" Kitchen Stewardship Raising Healthy Families follow Katie on Instagram or Facebook Subscribe to the newsletter to get weekly updates YouTube shorts channel for HPH Find the Healthy Parenting Handbook at raisinghealthyfamilies.com/podcast Affiliate links used here. Thanks for supporting the Healthy Parenting Handbook!