Welcome to the inaugural N4K podcast! I am so excited to launch our very first podcast with a topic that most parents can relate to: Picky Eaters; or: when nothing green passes your child’s mouth. Today we promise to give you a crash course in picky eaters 101 and help you go from stress to success with tips and tricks to encourage your child to eat a healthier diet.

I am delighted to introduce my friend and our very esteemed guest, Lucille Beseler, who is also a member of our Nutrition4Kids advisory board and a treasure trove of experience and wisdom dealing with finnicky eaters. Lucille is a registered dietitian/nutritionist, Certified Diabetes Educator, author, speaker and entrepreneur. She is president and owner of the Family Nutrition Center of South Florida (FNC). Under her direction, the FNC has developed into a comprehensive practice providing a variety of nutrition services in multiple locations. Since 1991, the FNC has seen over 300,000 children and adults for nutrition evaluation and care.

Lucille’s book is Nurturing with Nutrition: everything you need to know about feeding infants and toddlers. And she served as president of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Nearly half of America’s children ages 1-5 don’t eat a vegetable a day, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control. Nearly 1-3 young children don’t eat fruit each day. We know how important fruits and vegetables are to providing vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and fiber. How can parents get their kids to eat more nutritious foods?

In this podcast episode, Lucille gives parents advice about the importance of role modeling, tips and tricks on what to buy and how to cook vegetables to make them more interesting, little rules children can easily follow, and what foods to avoid. Lucille has great advice on how to handle “food jags” (when a child will only eat one type of food, such as chicken nuggets).

We discuss cognitive development and brain health, establishing healthy eating habits early in life, the importance of family meals, the topic of sugar, and we even discuss cell phone use.

Lucille closes by noting that the risk of childhood obesity and related diseases encourages us to help our kids “eat right, from the start.” She leaves the listener with powerful tools to help their picky eaters learn to love their fruits and veggies.

Visit our website, Nutrition4Kids.com, for lots of information, articles and videos to help you promote well being for your family. We hope you’ll join us, give our podcast a favorable rating, tell your friends about what Nutrition4Kids has to offer, and share on social media.