How to Empower the Picky Eater in Your Life with Katja Rowell and Jenny McGlothlin

Over 50% of families reporting picky eating problems at home. Not knowing what to do, parents may bribe, force and pressure their child to eat. The connection between parent and child can go south, eating often gets worse, and tension at the table grows. And it’s not just children but older teens and adults who struggle with picky eating.

One thing is for sure, we all need to know how to respond to picky eating and remove the shame associated with it. Only then can we see real progress.

To dig into this topic we have two featured experts: Katja Rowell, MD, and Jenny McGlothlin, MS, SLP. Katja is a medical doctor with expertise in relational and responsive feeding, and Jenny is a Speech Language Pathologist whose responsive feeding program at the UT Dallas Callier Center combines oral-motor and sensory treatments with parent education. Together they wrote Helping Your Child with Extreme Picky Eating and their recently released book, Conquer Picky Eating for Teens and Adults.

The show starts from the very beginning (infancy) and touches on every stage including adulthood. You will discover the best way to respond and support the picky eater in your life, even if the picky eater is you!

Highlights from the Show

How both Jenny and Katja became interested in childhood feeding, how they met, and how they learn from each other.
How pediatricians get very little training with feeding difficulties and where parents can turn when they need help.
Why feeding in the first two years has the power to shape the entire feeding relationship. And why it can be hard for parents to let go of early challenges.
The typical picky eating stage (2-5 years old) and how to avoid common pitfalls.
What’s usually behind a school-aged child that isn’t expanding their intake.
Why older teens and adults do not usually need therapy and what can empower them to change.
The key drivers that lead to adult picky eating.
Normal vs. extreme picky eating: Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) signs and symptoms and why there’s still no gold standard of treatment.
How to find the right therapist if you suspect your child has extreme picky eating.
The problem with pressuring picky eaters and why it slows the process of food progression.
The role anxiety and sensory experiences play in picky eating and what to do if your child hasn’t added a new food in a long time.
The lasting effects of early food trauma and why it doesn’t have to dictate how someone relates to food forever.
Why picky eaters have better health than people think.
Why it’s so important to remove shame from the eating experience.