The International Picky Eating Network for Healthcare Professionals
Get everything you need to ensure that even the most selective eaters get the right nutrients, without tricking, bribing, or short-order cooking.
As a healthcare professional…
- You know what children should be eating but not how to get them to eat it.
- You’ve been in a consult where the parents claim their child won't eat anything at all - and you have no idea how to advise them.
- You’re losing pediatric clients because you don't feel qualified to help them.
- You're not sure how to provide parents with tangible tips or an action plan for their picky eater.
- Or every suggestion you make, the parent responds with: "I've already done that, and it's not going to work."
The usual tactics that most families use for dealing with picky eaters not only backfire and make the child pickier; but can harm the child’s relationship with food for the rest of their life.
Parents are frustrated, have tried everything, and need YOUR help.
As a dietitian & mom of three (including a former picky eater!) I can help you to:
- Get pediatric clients whose parents become raving fans, because you’ve changed their whole family dynamics around food.
- Learn the knowledge and skills required to assess and treat the most selective eaters. Including those with Pediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD) and how to support ARFID clients too.
- Have the confidence to supply your clients with tangible, action-oriented tips to help their child and make mealtimes more peaceful.
- Problem-solve difficult cases with us and the entire international multidisciplinary network of members.
“The customizable handouts & tools made my practice sooooooo much easier and just that has paid off in and of itself.”
Diana K Rice
Registered Dietitian, USA
Picky Eating Network Membership
Your Membership Includes:
- 4 live trainings per year and 18 recorded trainings (and growing!). This provides 20 hours of continuing education CPEUs by the Commission on Dietetic Registration - CDR
- Customizable handouts, including an assessment form & pre-made picky eating presentation to deliver to parents
- Access to the member-only group for support from a variety of health professionals to troubleshoot tough cases
- Unlimited coaching with Jennifer House, founder of the Picky Eating Network
The Picky Eating Network has had more than 120 members in 4 countries!
“The sensory training was extremely interesting and I definitely will be incorporating what I learned into my practice.”
Paola Figari
Registered Dietitian, Ecuador
“I love how the training events within the Picky Eating Network are multidisciplinary. As a registered dietitian, I don’t have all the answers so working together is so rich.”
Emmanuelle Dumoulin
Registered Dietitian, Canada
Recorded Training Topics & Learning Outcomes
- 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
- 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)
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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)
- 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
- 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
- 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
Guest Speaker: Diana K Rice, RD
- 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
Guest Speaker: Dr. Annie-Pier Dumoulin, DMD
- 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
Guest Speaker: Grace Wong MSc, RD, CEDS-S
- 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
Guest Speaker: Sarah Rosensweet
- 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
- The Division of Responsibility (DOR) has always been considered the gold standard in feeding kids, but is it time for a shift in perspective?
- Does nutrition education for children encourage kids to eat particular food? Or are they forms of pressure which ultimately backfires? Who is right, and what works best for kids?
Guest speaker: Natasha Daniels, child therapist
- 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
Guest speaker: Kristen Kaszuba, OT
- 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
Upcoming Live Training
Felt Safety: Often the Missing Piece at the Dinner Table
Guest Speaker: Karen Dilfer, OT with the Get Permission Institute
- 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”
Jennifer House MSc, RD
Hi! I’m Jen, and I believe raising happy, well-nourished eaters who have a healthy relationship with food doesn’t have to be a battle.
I’m a mom of three kids, a Registered Dietitian with a BSc and MSc in nutrition and have owned First Step Nutrition for 20 years. I have extensive training in helping selective eaters, including Kay Toomey’s Sequential Oral Sensory training.
I’m passionate about helping families break the cycle of diet culture and forceful feeding methods. I’ve helped hundreds of clients with feeding their families. And this is why I created the Picky Eating Network. To help you help families achieve these results too!
As health professionals, we have a crucial role: to help make mealtimes a positive place for families and set children up to have a life-long positive relationship with food. I created the Picky Eating Network to help health professionals like you achieve results with your clients who are frustrated with feeding picky eaters.
This is a network to bring all health professionals together so we can share successful tactics and continuous online trainings.
“A very big thank you for putting so much thought, time and energy into developing these sessions and connecting with other health professionals to fill in the gaps.”
Melinda Lamarche
Registered Dietitian
“Within the Picky Eating Network, Jessica and Jennifer summarized the information in a way that really opened my eyes. I can really use it with my clients because it’s condensed.”
Namrita Duggal
Registered Dietitian, Canada
FAQs
How many CPEUs will I get?
You get 20 continuing education units approved by the Commission for Dietetic Registration (CDR). If you live in Canada, you can use the network to achieve multiple learning objectives in your yearly competencies.
Is the Picky Eating Network useful for health professionals working in the public and private sectors?
Any health professional working with families would benefit from this, whether through the health care system or privately.
Health professionals in private practice or working in a small clinic or remote location who are not supported by a multidisciplinary team or other dietitians for questions and support would benefit.
What if this doesn’t work for my clients?
Some children need the extra support of a whole health professional team to help them. The Picky Eating Network will provide you with the assessment skills to know when to refer on. And since we are growing as a multidisciplinary network, it’s possible we can even start referring clients to each other!
The network includes a private Facebook group and email access to Jen to help you troubleshoot any challenging clients.
Will my employer pay for this?
If you have continuing education money through work, your employer may cover the network’s cost.
