Picky eating can be a significant challenge for parents and caregivers, especially when it affects a child’s nutrition and family mealtimes. But it can also be a sign of bigger eating issues like ARFID.
Food Chaining by Cheri Fraker, Dr. Mark Fishbein, and Sibyl Cox offers a structured, compassionate approach to addressing selective eating behaviors.
This book presents a six-step plan designed to gradually expand a child’s diet by building on foods they already accept, making mealtimes more enjoyable and less stressful.
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Food Chaining: The Proven 6-Step Plan to Stop Picky Eating, Solve Feeding Problems, and Expand Your Child’s Diet
The authors introduce the concept of “food chaining,” a method that creates a link between a child’s preferred foods and new, nutritionally diverse options.
By making small, incremental changes to texture, flavor, and appearance, children are gently guided toward accepting a broader range of foods.
This approach is particularly beneficial for children with sensory processing issues, oral-motor delays, or those on the autism spectrum.
Key Features and Benefits:
- Individualized Strategies: The book emphasizes tailoring the food chaining process to each child’s unique preferences and needs, ensuring a personalized approach to expanding their diet.
- Practical Tools: It provides checklists, meal planning templates and real-life case studies, offering readers actionable steps and relatable examples.
- Collaborative Approach: The authors advocate for involving a multidisciplinary team, including pediatricians, dietitians and occupational therapists, to support the child’s progress effectively.
- Empowering Caregivers: By educating parents on the reasons behind picky eating and offering clear guidance, the book empowers them to make informed decisions and foster positive mealtime experiences.
Food Chaining serves as a valuable resource for parents, caregivers, and professionals seeking to understand and address picky eating behaviors.
Its compassionate, step-by-step approach offers practical solutions that can lead to lasting improvements in a child’s eating habits and overall well-being.
By focusing on gradual, achievable changes, this book provides a roadmap to more harmonious and nutritious mealtimes.
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Recommended Reading
- Feeding Challenges with Picky Eaters, Sensory Kiddos
- Supportive Strategies Will Help Your “Picky Eater” Deal with Food Aversions
- More Than a Picky Eater
For more eating aversion support:
Helping Your Child with Extreme Picky Eating: A Step-by-Step Guide for Overcoming Selective Eating, Food Aversion, and Feeding DisordersCognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder: Children, Adolescents, and Adults
Stories of Extreme Picky Eating: Children with Severe Food Aversions and the Solutions That Helped Them
Just Take a Bite: Easy, Effective Answers to Food Aversions and Eating Challenges!
Color Taste Texture: Recipes for Picky Eaters, Those with Food Aversion, and Anyone Who’s Ever Cringed at Food
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