083: Why Feeding Therapy Can Backfire—Insights from Picky-Eating MD Dr. Katja Rowell

You've heard the figure that most MDs get less than 10-20 hours of nutrition and food training in medical school, and Dr. Katja Rowell (MD!) thinks this is a tragedy.

There are some tough moments to hear in this interview, but important ones as we work to raise healthy, independent kids into adulthood.

We talked about:

• What "extreme" picky eating is 
• How bad therapy can hurt a child's relationship with food and family to his/her great detriment, and how you can identify it.
• Why responsive feeding is different, respectful to the child, and ultimately worlds more effective.
• Some of the good doctor's regrets about her early years in practice 
• The perils of diet culture for all ages and how we can begin to protect our youth through using the right language and expectations
• How we need to work with extreme and mild picky eaters differently (Spoiler: we don't!)
• The 5 foundations a good responsive feeding approach boils down to, and how so many families see success 

Dr. Rowell also said that sugar isn't addictive and doesn't need to be villainized as unhealthy...and with the knowledge and experience I have at this very moment in time, I disagree.

But I think it's wonderful that we can learn so much from experts yet also learn to filter everything through our own intellect. I'm totally open to change on this issue, but I also believe it's ok to disagree.

Resources We Mention for Extreme Picky Eating

• Dr. Rowell's books: Helping Your Child With Extremely Picky Eating, Conquer Picky Eating for Teens and Adults
• Take the free No More Picky Eating Challenge now!
• Ellyn Satter's Division of Responsibilities
• More on feeding a child with sensory processing difficulties, highly sensitive children, and autism from a functional medicine perspective
• You can connect with Dr. Rowell online at The Feeding Doctor or Extreme Picky Eating
• Follow her on YouTube
• More resources Dr. Rowell sent me after our interview:
  • Dieticians 4 Teachers
  • The Feeding Humans Podcast
  • The Comfort Food Podcast episode on sugar

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