I had my first baby
shortly after I turned 30 to prepare I
read every single page of what to expect
when you’re expecting more than once
I followed the parenting advice of the
times I breastfed my baby I pumped when
I was at work I started solid food on
time and I moved my daughter through all
the stages of food introduction I was
responsive to her I fed her when she was
hungry and I stopped when she was full
you could say I was very focused on
getting this part of parenthood right
when my daughter was 12 months old my
pediatrician told me her weight was low
she was clinically almost underweight at
the time I had been privately struggling
with how difficult it had become to feed
her she didn’t want to come to the
highchair and when she was there she
only took a couple bites pushed the food
off the tray and said all done
I struggled and I had to instincts my
first instinct when I heard the news was
to feed her whatever I could get her to
eat and make sure she made it all my
second instinct was totally opposite it
was to stay the course not push her to
have more food not force her to finish
her meals and I struggled with the
decision I wrestled with the right
approach ultimately I went with my
second instinct I stayed the course I
didn’t push her to eat more food and I
certainly didn’t force her to finish her
meals in fact I worked really hard to
make sure food wasn’t an issue at her 18
month checkup I learned she was anemic
and still not gaining enough weight you
could say this kind of rocked me to the
core not only had I failed my daughter I
had failed as a mother
and what was worse I had failed at the
one thing I was supposed to know inside
and out you see I’m a pediatric
dietitian I’m a professional trained in
the science of nutrition and feeding
babies toddlers children and teens at
the time I’ve been a professional for
seven years and I was taking care of
some of the sickest kids on our planet
nutrition and feeding that was my
wheelhouse my comfort zone but what I
knew in my bones as a pediatric
nutritionist did not jive at all with
what I was facing day in and day out
with my own child at work I was an
expert at home I was a stressed-out
struggling parent I didn’t know if what
I was doing was right or if I was making
things worse humbling yes
but what I didn’t expect was that this
experience would be a pivotal moment in
my life as a mom and as a professional
what I learned was that eating kids is
not easy it takes a lot of work
that pivotal moment it influenced my
work as I moved forward it changed it
radically changed the way I work and the
way I see childhood nutrition today I
had a powerful revelation if feeding my
own child was so challenging humbling
and causing me to swim in pools of
self-doubt what was this experience like
for other parents parents who didn’t
have the education training and
experience that I did our nation has
many child health problems too many for
me to list here tonight but I want to
give you a little snapshot obesity
affects one in three children eight
percent of our babies are overweight
eating disorders are on the rise in
children under 12 and in boys one out of
13 kids will be diagnosed with a food
allergy
micki eating it is lasting longer and
we’re seeing more and more cases of
extreme picky eating iron deficiency
anemia it’s still a significant concern
in our youngest children you may hear
these child health problems and think
these things are caused by food fix the
food and we will certainly fix the child
I wish it were that easy
the problem isn’t food the real problem
is that parents don’t know how to
nourish nourish and nurture the health
of their children there are three main
areas of nutrition education that are
missing for parents addressing these
gaps and be a real game-changer for our
nation’s kids the first area is food
education as a pediatric nutritionist I
get questions about food all the time
what food can I give my child to make
him healthier what’s the best diet for
my
which brand of yogurt cereal granola is
the best I hate to break the bubble but
there is no magic food best diet or
special plan chia seeds Greek yogurt
broccoli will not cure obesity reverse
picky eating or even make a child a
healthy eater this idea of fixing our
child health problems with food alone
sends parents on the wrong path looking
for a quick fix
kale infused smoothies paulo flour
mashed potatoes carrot spikes spaghetti
sauce parents think if I could just get
my child to eat healthy food everything
will be okay
and those child health problems they
won’t happen to us almost every parent I
meet needs food education they need to
understand the balance of food the
portion sizes for children and the
nutrients they’re growing kids need and
they need to know this early because it
helps them nourish their children well
yes food education is part of the recipe
for a healthier child but it’s not the
whole enchilada the second area is
feeding education did you know that how
a child is fed is just as important as
what they eat let me repeat that how a
child is fed is just as important as
what they eat that interaction between
the parent and child during the process
of feeding can be a powerful predictor
of how well a child will eat from the
foods that they choose and their ability
to regulate their eating to their
developing relationship with food
we have a body of research that tells us
beating is powerful so let me explain
will was a picky eater
he was very underweight in fact he was
not growing well at all
his parents did everything they could do
to get him to eat they begged him they
bribed him they even tried to punish him
nothing worked in fact will got worse
pressuring a child to eat is largely
ineffective in some kids like will shuts
down their appetite leading to less
eating more pickiness and even a dislike
for the foods parents are trying to get
their kids to eat other children they
might comply they might eat more even
though their bellies tell them I’m full
you see some children will do whatever
their parents ask them to do even eat
more food when they’re not hungry what
if there’s an overweight child or a big
eater or a child who just loves food in
that scenario a family a mom or a dad
might get nervous might worry about
their children’s weight or their health
or their eating habits and in that worry
they may try to limit or restrict food
access and even tightly control their
child’s eating this happened to Rachel
her mom was worried about her weight and
so she did what she thought was the best
thing to do and she took away sweets and
treats and all the junky foods and she
got rid of them out of the house in the
hopes that this would prevent Rachel
from gaining any more weight but this
didn’t work out very well for Rachel she
started to sneak food and when she was
at class parties and friends houses when
those foods were around she over ate
them sometimes to the point of making
herself sick
and you know why she gained more weight
when parents restrict or tightly limit
or even control their children’s eating
it can make children preoccupied with
food seek it out and even over indulge
when it’s available have any of you ever
seen a parent reward a child for good
behavior with a treat have you ever seen
a parent offer dessert for a bite of
broccoli when parents use sweets and
treats to reward their children for
eating children actually learn to like
those foods more and this can shift
their food preferences and tip their
eating to an unhealthy place all these
feeding strategies that I’ve just
described bribing pressuring restriction
even though they’re well-intentioned
they don’t work very well with children
in fact they can backfire when parents
don’t understand the power of feeding or
they don’t have effective feeding
strategies they can actually do more
harm to their child’s developing
relationship with food encourage poor
eating habits and even contribute to
their child’s future health a bad way
the third area of education is
understanding child development and a
child’s temperament for example when my
daughter was a toddler
her favorite word was no the favorite
thing she liked to say I do it my big
self toddlers want to separate from
their parents and they want to be more
independent this is a hallmark of
toddler development my daughter was also
high-strung and a little bit stubborn we
don’t know really where that came from
maybe her DNA understanding a child’s
cognitive social and emotional
development is golden it is like the
magic 8-ball that tells us what could
happen in the future even more this
trifecta of food feeding and child
development I’ve just described is the
anchor the blueprint of exactly what
parents need to know in order to raise a
healthy child so how do we do this we’ve
made a dangerous and costly mistake in
our country we have overlooked the
foundation of any success plan and that
is education I believe the answer to the
rising incidences of child health
problems and the costs associated with
them is in a system-wide
institution based nutrition education
program for parents we value education
in almost every other realm we are
patient and persistent with teaching our
children how to read we invest time and
money and teaching our teenagers how to
safely drive a car we fund educational
opportunities so our kids can go off to
college or take that next step into
adulthood we have plans policies and
guidelines for nearly everything you can
imagine except for the job of nourishing
a child like many parents I took a
Lamaze class when I was pregnant with my
first baby
my husband John and I spent six or seven
weeks in a two hour class learning how
to breathe relax
and for me how to
push that baby out into the world 14
hours spent on learning how to birth a
baby my baby came in 15 hours we give
this in-depth training and education to
expectant parents so they know how to
birth a baby an event that takes on
average less than 14 hours yet we give
little guidance education or support to
the job of nourishing a child a job that
will last 18 years if we want healthier
kids in our country we need a better
prescription for raising them I believe
we can do it with a systematic
institution based nutrition education
program that targets the parent can you
imagine the difference if every birthing
hospital offer nutrition education to
expectant parents so that they knew
exactly what to do for the first year of
life can you imagine the difference if
every pediatrician office offered
guidance for what to expect at each
stage of childhood and offered courses
and a professional in the office to help
parents navigate nutrition and the
problems that can come up can you
imagine the difference if parents knew
and we’re knowledgeable about food
feeding and childhood development you
imagine I can
it’s time for each and every one of us
to up our game parents health care
providers institutions government funded
programs corporations organizations
insurance companies when we collectively
prioritize the nutrition education
parents need to nourish and nurture
their children we will see a healthier
nation of children thank you
[Applause]
shortly after I turned 30 to prepare I
read every single page of what to expect
when you’re expecting more than once
I followed the parenting advice of the
times I breastfed my baby I pumped when
I was at work I started solid food on
time and I moved my daughter through all
the stages of food introduction I was
responsive to her I fed her when she was
hungry and I stopped when she was full
you could say I was very focused on
getting this part of parenthood right
when my daughter was 12 months old my
pediatrician told me her weight was low
she was clinically almost underweight at
the time I had been privately struggling
with how difficult it had become to feed
her she didn’t want to come to the
highchair and when she was there she
only took a couple bites pushed the food
off the tray and said all done
I struggled and I had to instincts my
first instinct when I heard the news was
to feed her whatever I could get her to
eat and make sure she made it all my
second instinct was totally opposite it
was to stay the course not push her to
have more food not force her to finish
her meals and I struggled with the
decision I wrestled with the right
approach ultimately I went with my
second instinct I stayed the course I
didn’t push her to eat more food and I
certainly didn’t force her to finish her
meals in fact I worked really hard to
make sure food wasn’t an issue at her 18
month checkup I learned she was anemic
and still not gaining enough weight you
could say this kind of rocked me to the
core not only had I failed my daughter I
had failed as a mother
and what was worse I had failed at the
one thing I was supposed to know inside
and out you see I’m a pediatric
dietitian I’m a professional trained in
the science of nutrition and feeding
babies toddlers children and teens at
the time I’ve been a professional for
seven years and I was taking care of
some of the sickest kids on our planet
nutrition and feeding that was my
wheelhouse my comfort zone but what I
knew in my bones as a pediatric
nutritionist did not jive at all with
what I was facing day in and day out
with my own child at work I was an
expert at home I was a stressed-out
struggling parent I didn’t know if what
I was doing was right or if I was making
things worse humbling yes
but what I didn’t expect was that this
experience would be a pivotal moment in
my life as a mom and as a professional
what I learned was that eating kids is
not easy it takes a lot of work
that pivotal moment it influenced my
work as I moved forward it changed it
radically changed the way I work and the
way I see childhood nutrition today I
had a powerful revelation if feeding my
own child was so challenging humbling
and causing me to swim in pools of
self-doubt what was this experience like
for other parents parents who didn’t
have the education training and
experience that I did our nation has
many child health problems too many for
me to list here tonight but I want to
give you a little snapshot obesity
affects one in three children eight
percent of our babies are overweight
eating disorders are on the rise in
children under 12 and in boys one out of
13 kids will be diagnosed with a food
allergy
micki eating it is lasting longer and
we’re seeing more and more cases of
extreme picky eating iron deficiency
anemia it’s still a significant concern
in our youngest children you may hear
these child health problems and think
these things are caused by food fix the
food and we will certainly fix the child
I wish it were that easy
the problem isn’t food the real problem
is that parents don’t know how to
nourish nourish and nurture the health
of their children there are three main
areas of nutrition education that are
missing for parents addressing these
gaps and be a real game-changer for our
nation’s kids the first area is food
education as a pediatric nutritionist I
get questions about food all the time
what food can I give my child to make
him healthier what’s the best diet for
my
which brand of yogurt cereal granola is
the best I hate to break the bubble but
there is no magic food best diet or
special plan chia seeds Greek yogurt
broccoli will not cure obesity reverse
picky eating or even make a child a
healthy eater this idea of fixing our
child health problems with food alone
sends parents on the wrong path looking
for a quick fix
kale infused smoothies paulo flour
mashed potatoes carrot spikes spaghetti
sauce parents think if I could just get
my child to eat healthy food everything
will be okay
and those child health problems they
won’t happen to us almost every parent I
meet needs food education they need to
understand the balance of food the
portion sizes for children and the
nutrients they’re growing kids need and
they need to know this early because it
helps them nourish their children well
yes food education is part of the recipe
for a healthier child but it’s not the
whole enchilada the second area is
feeding education did you know that how
a child is fed is just as important as
what they eat let me repeat that how a
child is fed is just as important as
what they eat that interaction between
the parent and child during the process
of feeding can be a powerful predictor
of how well a child will eat from the
foods that they choose and their ability
to regulate their eating to their
developing relationship with food
we have a body of research that tells us
beating is powerful so let me explain
will was a picky eater
he was very underweight in fact he was
not growing well at all
his parents did everything they could do
to get him to eat they begged him they
bribed him they even tried to punish him
nothing worked in fact will got worse
pressuring a child to eat is largely
ineffective in some kids like will shuts
down their appetite leading to less
eating more pickiness and even a dislike
for the foods parents are trying to get
their kids to eat other children they
might comply they might eat more even
though their bellies tell them I’m full
you see some children will do whatever
their parents ask them to do even eat
more food when they’re not hungry what
if there’s an overweight child or a big
eater or a child who just loves food in
that scenario a family a mom or a dad
might get nervous might worry about
their children’s weight or their health
or their eating habits and in that worry
they may try to limit or restrict food
access and even tightly control their
child’s eating this happened to Rachel
her mom was worried about her weight and
so she did what she thought was the best
thing to do and she took away sweets and
treats and all the junky foods and she
got rid of them out of the house in the
hopes that this would prevent Rachel
from gaining any more weight but this
didn’t work out very well for Rachel she
started to sneak food and when she was
at class parties and friends houses when
those foods were around she over ate
them sometimes to the point of making
herself sick
and you know why she gained more weight
when parents restrict or tightly limit
or even control their children’s eating
it can make children preoccupied with
food seek it out and even over indulge
when it’s available have any of you ever
seen a parent reward a child for good
behavior with a treat have you ever seen
a parent offer dessert for a bite of
broccoli when parents use sweets and
treats to reward their children for
eating children actually learn to like
those foods more and this can shift
their food preferences and tip their
eating to an unhealthy place all these
feeding strategies that I’ve just
described bribing pressuring restriction
even though they’re well-intentioned
they don’t work very well with children
in fact they can backfire when parents
don’t understand the power of feeding or
they don’t have effective feeding
strategies they can actually do more
harm to their child’s developing
relationship with food encourage poor
eating habits and even contribute to
their child’s future health a bad way
the third area of education is
understanding child development and a
child’s temperament for example when my
daughter was a toddler
her favorite word was no the favorite
thing she liked to say I do it my big
self toddlers want to separate from
their parents and they want to be more
independent this is a hallmark of
toddler development my daughter was also
high-strung and a little bit stubborn we
don’t know really where that came from
maybe her DNA understanding a child’s
cognitive social and emotional
development is golden it is like the
magic 8-ball that tells us what could
happen in the future even more this
trifecta of food feeding and child
development I’ve just described is the
anchor the blueprint of exactly what
parents need to know in order to raise a
healthy child so how do we do this we’ve
made a dangerous and costly mistake in
our country we have overlooked the
foundation of any success plan and that
is education I believe the answer to the
rising incidences of child health
problems and the costs associated with
them is in a system-wide
institution based nutrition education
program for parents we value education
in almost every other realm we are
patient and persistent with teaching our
children how to read we invest time and
money and teaching our teenagers how to
safely drive a car we fund educational
opportunities so our kids can go off to
college or take that next step into
adulthood we have plans policies and
guidelines for nearly everything you can
imagine except for the job of nourishing
a child like many parents I took a
Lamaze class when I was pregnant with my
first baby
my husband John and I spent six or seven
weeks in a two hour class learning how
to breathe relax
and for me how to
push that baby out into the world 14
hours spent on learning how to birth a
baby my baby came in 15 hours we give
this in-depth training and education to
expectant parents so they know how to
birth a baby an event that takes on
average less than 14 hours yet we give
little guidance education or support to
the job of nourishing a child a job that
will last 18 years if we want healthier
kids in our country we need a better
prescription for raising them I believe
we can do it with a systematic
institution based nutrition education
program that targets the parent can you
imagine the difference if every birthing
hospital offer nutrition education to
expectant parents so that they knew
exactly what to do for the first year of
life can you imagine the difference if
every pediatrician office offered
guidance for what to expect at each
stage of childhood and offered courses
and a professional in the office to help
parents navigate nutrition and the
problems that can come up can you
imagine the difference if parents knew
and we’re knowledgeable about food
feeding and childhood development you
imagine I can
it’s time for each and every one of us
to up our game parents health care
providers institutions government funded
programs corporations organizations
insurance companies when we collectively
prioritize the nutrition education
parents need to nourish and nurture
their children we will see a healthier
nation of children thank you
[Applause]
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