There’s nothing more frustrating than preparing and serving a balanced, healthy meal after a busy day, only to have your little one push his plate away and say “not hungry” or “no thanks” or only taking a few bites before declaring that he is “done”. I can sense a collective “ugh–YES!” coming from many of you reading…
Top 5 Foods to Help Your Child Focus and Concentrate
Food is the fuel that our bodies use to function, think, play, and work. Of course, kids’ attention spans are short in the best of times, but there are foods to help your child focus and concentrate. Kids who eat well perform better in school because they are able to concentrate, focus, and learn during…
Praising At Meals: Why it May Hinder Rather Than Help
I’ve always thought that praising my kids for positive behaviour, kindness, sharing, etc., has worked well to increase the chances of continued positive behaviour. However, after years of being a pediatric and child dietitian, I’ve realized that praising does more harm than good. Learn how praising your child may make picky eating worse. I can…
The 5-Step Strategy That Will Transform Your Family’s Mealtime
I’m delighted to feature Maryann Jacobsen, MS, RD on the blog today. She’s written an informative post about how to transform your family mealtimes for the better. I particularly like #4 and #5– those have been game-changers in our house! Most parents understand the importance of eating together as a family. Still, when you sit…
What To Do When Your Child Is Constipated
It is not uncommon for young kids to become constipated. After all, toileting is one of the three major things that kids CAN control in the lives (along with eating and sleeping). Having a child who experiences constipation can be very stressful for parents, and it is hard to know what to do. When a child is…
10 New Years Resolutions That Will Benefit Your Children As Much As You
Research shows that less than half of us will stick to our New Years Resolutions by June and only 10% of us will follow through by December. Making healthy changes to your lifestyle is not easy. In fact, it’s REALLY challenging, especially for those of us who have created less-than-healthy habits over the years. Habits…
Picky Eating: Four Common “Mealtime Battle” Triggers
You’ve prepared a healthy meal for your family, making sure to include all of the food groups and lots of nutrition. You’re feeling hopeful that your child will eat what they’ve been served–even a portion of it, but much to your dismay, they decide that they don’t like it before they try it. They push…
Should you feed your children organic foods?
This is a really good question, but unfortunately, I cannot give you a cut and dry answer (and trust me, I would like one too!). The truth is, offering your children a variety of fruits and vegetables, dairy products, lean meats and alternatives and whole grains is important. Whether these foods are organic or not,…
5 Tips On How To Help Toddlers Establish a Healthy Relationship With Food
It’s a tricky job, this Mommy thing. Personally, I am finding meal times particularly tricky with my toddler, who (as cute as he is) is asserting his new found independence in…destructive ways. Just tonight, I made my gourmet macaroni and cheese (ok, I defrosted it) and placed it on his tray with some of his favourite…
Why Sprouts May Not Be Safe to Eat
You may know that you shouldn’t eat sprouts while you’re pregnant because of the risk of food poisoning, but what about people who aren’t pregnant? Health Canada recently released a statement reminding Canadians to be cautious when eating sprouts such as bean sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, broccoli sprouts etc. especially if they are pregnant, under the…
Breaking-the-Fast: Why Breakfast is Something You Don’t Want to Miss
You’ve all heard it before- breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And I’m here to tell you that yes, it is indeed. But why?! Most people realize that this meal is important, but most of these people don’t have a clue as to why. Breakfast is important for many reasons. It gives…
5 Reasons NOT to Short Order Cook For Your Toddler or Child
A friend recently asked me to write a post on short order cooking for toddlers and kids. Here is what she writes: “One thing I am struggling with is the precocious line between “This is dinner. Eat it or don’t’ and the alternative of being a short order cook. ‘Oh, you don’t like this? How…
Do You Have Skinny-Stress?
We’ve all done it…You and I both know that at one time or another you’ve stressed about your weight… Maybe it was in grade 7 when you were bullied for being “fat”. Maybe it was when your body started to change when you were pregnant. Maybe (cringe) it was when someone mistakenly thought you were…