The International Picky Eating Network for Healthcare Professionals

Everything you need to ensure that even the most selective eaters get nourished right , without tricking, bribing, or short-order cooking.
As a healthcare professional…
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:
“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:
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

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”

Wow, we’ve had 18 live trainings! This presentation pulls together the most important points from each presentation plus updates or new resources related to each topic.

As usual, we have a new case study to bring it all together in a practical way.

Upcoming Live Training

How to know if a child needs feeding therapy & aligning therapy with different cognitive development stages February 2025

Guest Speaker: Kelly Fitzpatrick, SLP

  • Identify key indicators that signal a child may benefit from feeding therapy
  • Analyze how a child’s developmental stage, particularly their cognitive development, impacts feeding therapy strategies, therapist interactions, and the evolving relationship with food over time.
  • Recognize and respond to a child’s cues with effective strategies, fostering learning and caregiver responsiveness.

Fueling Focus: The Role of Nutrition in Managing ADHD May 2025

Turning Conflict into Collaboration: Effective Strategies for Working with  Challenging Parents  Sept 2025

Top Reads in Pediatric Nutrition: A Guide to Today’s Essential Books November 2025

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.

Tour

Want to get a real view of what you get when you join? Check out the video here.