Lara Dato - Raising Adventurous Eaters: Practical Ways to Overcome Picky Eating and Food Sensory Sensitivities

Raising Adventurous Eaters provides clinically proven solutions coupled with real-world pragmaticism for parents feeling rudderless in a sea of blue-box macaroni. Lara Datos wealth of experience in her private practice working with children and families struggling with feeding challenges is carefully composed as a go-to resource for a broad range of picky eating challenges. Mealtime harmony can now be within your familys reach.

Allison Rinehart , culinary instructor, and founder of Lil Pinkies Up

Thank you to Lara Dato for finally bringing us a book that dives deep into the relationship between sensory processing and eating with easy-to-understand terminology and practical examples. This book is a wonderful resource for parents, caregivers, feeding therapists, and other health care professionals looking for insight on how to help children with sensory processing challenges learn to eat and explore new foods.

Samantha Goldman, PP-OTD , CEO of Samantha N. Goldman, P.A.; and founder of the Food Explorers Membership for parents of children with feeding difficulties

Empowering adventurous eaters through practical, put-in-use-today strategies for families throughout the eight senses. Lara Dato breaks down each sense and offers easy-to-emulate activities and worksheets throughout mealtimes. Her extensive knowledge and experience shine through. A creative and practical guide that will be in my clinic referral resources.

Melissa Longhurst, MS, CCC-SLP , owner of Advanced Therapy Solutions

Raising Adventurous Eaters takes parents and caretakers on a tour of the senses, explaining how each sense informs eating, how sensory sensitivities may interfere with eating, and how to help kids overcome picky eating so they grow to love all foods. A fresh approach and must-have guide for parents with fussy eaters!

Jill Castle , pediatric dietitian, founder of The Nourished Child, author of Try New Food and Size Wise , and coauthor of Fearless Feeding

A wonderful and practical resource for families and clinicians. Lara is an expert in her field, with years of experience in treating pediatric feeding. In this book, she provides creative strategies for introducing new foods, managing sensory input, and setting up successful mealtimes. This book is a must for anyone dealing with picky eaters!

Jayme Beal, MS, CCC-SLP , owner of Rescue My Speech Pediatric Therapies in Henderson, NV

Lara Datos experience and expertiseworking with the average picky eater to medically complex childrenshine in this thoughtful and novel approach to feeding. It is well organized, easy to read, and contains lots of practical examples. I would highly recommend this book for all parents, no matter the age or stage your child is at!

Kelly Klaczkiewicz, RD, CSP , pediatric dietitian

Publishers Note

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering psychological, financial, legal, or other professional services. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

NEW HARBINGER PUBLICATIONS is a registered trademark of New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

New Harbinger Publications is an employee-owned company.

Copyright 2022 by Lara Dato

New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

5674 Shattuck Avenue

Oakland, CA 94609

www.newharbinger.com

All Rights Reserved

Cover design by Sara Christian

Acquired by Elizabeth Hollis Hansen

Edited by Joyce Wu

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Dato, Lara, author.

Title: Raising adventurous eaters : practical ways to overcome picky eating and food sensory sensitivities / by Lara Dato MS OTR/L, SC-FES.

Description: Oakland, CA : New Harbinger Publications, Inc., [2022] | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022028021 | ISBN 9781684039524 (trade paperback)

Subjects: LCSH: Children--Nutrition--Psychological aspects. | Food preferences in children. | Child psychology. | Child rearing. | BISAC: FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS / Children with Special Needs | PSYCHOLOGY / Psychopathology / Eating Disorders

Classification: LCC HQ784.E3 D37 2022 | DDC 649/.3--dc23/eng/20220802

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022028021

Contents

Foreword

Picky eating has been around since the dawn of time and has been a frustrating aspect of child-rearing for millions of parents worldwide. The antiquated guidance for parents was typically to force children to eat any and all food that was served to them. Children were told to stay at the table until they ate everything on their plate, sometimes lasting well into the evening. Unfortunately, this harsh approach only made mealtime a battleground, creating long-term damage to family relationships and the relationship between the child and food. Additionally, this approach did not increase a childs willingness or ability to eat a wider variety of foods. Quite the oppositeit created a stressful, if not traumatic, memory around eating in general or eating certain foods.

Parents have longed for some real help, and Lara Dato has delivered. In Raising Adventurous Eaters , Dato has created a useful, informational, and easy-to-follow book that provides real-world guidance as to how to help children who are picky eaters, have limited palates, have trouble eating, or dont get proper nutrition from their food intake. Fortunately for the parents, families, and professionals who work with these children, Raising Adventurous Eaters is now here.

As two mental health professionals who have written several books about sensory processing issues and how they affect behavior, emotions, and overall health, we have been eager to see more good resources for parents and families who are challenged with these issues. Dato presents the biology of sensory processing in an understandable and normalized way, making the information presented in this book easy to digest and relevant to a wide array of parents, in a supportive and nonjudgmental tone. Picky eating can disrupt the family system. These disruptions can create a tense battleground during mealtimes, affect relationships, and result in hurt and angry feelings. This book is an excellent resource that will change how parents of picky eaters approach meals with their child.

Raising Adventurous Eaters provides tangible ideas to help struggling families approach mealtime differently, which hopefully, when presented at an early age, will prevent these struggles altogether. This book is a guide to healthy eating and peaceful mealtimes for almost any sensory-oriented child. Dato provides an understandable overview of the nervous system and how children with sensory regulation problems may respond to foods that are hard for their nervous systems to manage. She outlines not only the five near senses (smell, touch, sight, taste, and sound), but also the three far senses (interoceptive, proprioceptive, and vestibular) as they relate to food, eating, and mealtime behavior. In addition, Dato then gives specific instructions to parents about how to change mealtime environments to make the introduction of food more palatable to children who have very particular sensory sensitivities.

Sensory processing and how it can impact children, childhood behavior, and childhood emotional functioning has long been underrepresented and underappreciated in literature. Were so excited to see this book, with such a wealth of information, concrete ideas, and emotional support, become available to parents in need. We wish we had read this book when our children were young!