Picky Eating Series 2024 – Four Different Lenses

Who’s Feeding the Kids? Diverse Families and Complex Feeding Dynamics

Feeding kids takes a village! Families come in different shapes and forms. Maude will explore the feeding dynamic between a parent and their child but also the role other adults such as grandparents, can have when it comes to feeding kids. You will also leave with an appreciation of the importance of family values in multicultural and immigrant families in order to support them in culturally appropriate ways.

Objectives: At the end of this webinar, participants will be:

• Able to explain the complexity of the bi-directional feeding dynamic between a parent and their child;
• Able to support modern families and reflect on their needs and challenges around feeding;
• Able to appreciate the importance of family values in multicultural and immigrant families in order to support them in culturally appropriate ways.

Maude Perreault, RD PhD (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutrition at the Université de Montréal, and a researcher at the Centre Jean-Jacques-Gauthier in Montréal, Québec, Canada.

Maude is also a registered dietitian who has focused on supporting families in feeding their children in their early years of life. Maude’s research interests are centered around the development of food literacy in different contexts. She is interested in supporting caregivers, be fathers, grand-parents, or other significant adults, in supporting children who are learning to eat, and who are discovering all about food.

From Typical Eating to ARFID – Selection of Case Studies

In her webinar, Natalia will guide you through 4 different and detailed case studies covering a range of feeding difficulties. She will provide a comprehensive overview of how the medical, child-related and environment/parent-related factors are involved in your assessment and action planning. You will leave with an understanding of the current research and practice guidelines, as well as with practical strategies to help children with feeding difficulties meet their nutritional needs.

Objectives: At the end of this webinar, participants will be:

• Able to identify key characteristics of feeding difficulties of different degrees;
• Learn about environmental factors, including parent factors, playing a role in assessment and treatment of feeding cases;
• Know key strategies to help children with feeding difficulties meet their nutritional needs.

Natalia Stasenko, MS, RD received her MS in Nutrition Education and completed the DI in 2011. Having experienced problems feeding her firstborn, Natalia chose to specialize in feeding problems in children as well as starting solids with babies. While in the US, Natalia co-wrote two books on starting solids, consulted for Head Start, worked in her private practice and started collaborating with food brands.

After moving to the UK, Natalia focused on her nutrition consultancy and digital support for parents and professionals via her website, Feeding Bytes. She is currently consulting for companies in the UK and the US and is a member of Global Expert Bench at FoodMinds – a network of senior nutrition and communication experts spanning over 20 countries and providing expert advice to local and international food companies.

One of Natalia’s recent projects is the Easy Bites app – a digital, research-driven family feeding and nutrition program designed to support stressed and time-poor caregivers in raising healthier, happier kids.

Use of Responsive and Child-Directed Feeding Methods for Picky Eating in Medically Complex Babies and Toddlers

Babies and young toddlers with a diagnosis or complex medical history often struggle with feeding challenges. This webinar will help you understand some of the possible causes of picky eating in medically complex populations such as preterm infants, babies with feeding aversion, GI complications and/or Down Syndrome and how they can be managed with responsive and child-directed feeding methods. Jill will emphasize the importance of a collaborative team and family approach to ensure that foods offered are appropriately sized, shaped and textured to the child’s feeding skill levels.

Objectives: At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Identify populations that may struggle with feeding challenges and understand the underlying reasons and practices that can impact feeding;
• Describe various responsive feeding methods that can help facilitate feeding skills;
• Become familiar with the ways to present foods safely based on skill – size, shape and texture;
• Understand the importance of a collaborative team approach, especially when working with medically complex babies and toddlers with feeding challenges.

Jill Rabin is a pediatric speech pathologist and international board-certified lactation consultant who has been working with the 0- to 3-year-old population since 1986. She is based in the north suburbs of Chicago where she has a private practice working with young babies and their families with feeding and speech/language issues.

Her areas of specialty include facilitating breastfeeding in at-risk populations such as preterm infants, babies with tethered oral tissues and babies with Down syndrome, managing feeding aversion and using the adapted baby-led weaning approach™ to transition babies with feeding challenges to solids.

She advocates for child-directed and responsive feeding approaches to facilitate self-feeding skills with all of her clients. She contributed two chapters to the book Breastfeeding and Down syndrome and co-authored the book Your Baby Can Self-Feed, Too! with Gill Rapley.

Jill lectures nationally and internationally on adapted baby-led weaning, breastfeeding babies with feeding challenges and managing feeding aversion in babies.

Picky Eating in Young Athletes

In this webinar, you will gain confidence to properly assess a youth athlete with picky eating and make key adjustments to common picky eating strategies. Rosanne and Cara will provide you with an in-depth review of clinical assessment and treatment plan considerations and then apply these in a case study review. You will leave equipped with parent coaching/counselling techniques to help a youth athlete’s parents to move beyond their desire for the dietitian to “fix their kid’s food choices” and empower them to partner with their child and help them fuel for their sport and life. This will be approached through a lens that prioritizes the child’s long-term relationship with food first before their sport.

Objectives: At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Apply sport-specific assessment considerations that need to be included for highly active youth athletes with picky eating;
• Discern the root causes of picky eating in a highly active youth athletes and distinguish between “regular picky eating” vs. an eating disorder;
• Understand the impact of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) on performance and overall health of the athlete;
• Adapt picky eating strategies and tailor them to a youth athlete and their unique family environment and sport training schedule;
• And equip participants with parent coaching/counselling techniques that are specific for this client population

Rosanne Robinson is a Registered Dietitian and co-owner of Blueprint Nutrition, a virtual counselling and consulting company that supports families and individuals across Canada in the areas of Sport Nutrition and Pediatric Nutrition. Rosanne leads the pediatric team of dietitians and specifically supports families with children who have feeding differences, including selective eating and ARFID.

She is passionate about helping parents build (or restore) trust in the feeding relationship and raise intuitive eaters who have a good relationship with food and their bodies. She is active on Instagram at @blueprint.nutrition.kids.

Cara Kasdorf is the co-owner of Blueprint Nutrition. She has 17 years of experience as a dietitian, and has worked in a diverse range of settings including in sport nutrition, clinical, primary care, and academic roles. She has worked in the field of sport nutrition in some capacity, her entire career. She provides nutrition coaching and counseling to athletes of all ages and abilities, ranging from recreational to national level and professional athletes.

In addition to her training in sport nutrition, Cara has completed additional training in the areas of eating disorder prevention and treatment and body image. Cara has a special interest in supporting athletes to have a healthy relationship with food and body, including working in the area of eating disorder and RED-s treatment and prevention, and helping athletes achieve their goals in a healthy and sustainable way.