I see clients of all ages, from infancy to geriatrics.   The common theme of all of my clients is at one time or another they were toddlers.   Sometimes I see older clients who describe early patterns that I suspect are partly responsible for the way a current client eats or “diets.”   At other times, I see toddlers who “rule their roost” and need a little nudge from their parents for a stricter regimen. I’ve written a lot about toddlers.   Mostly because I think this is a very specific time to start introducing good nutrition habits, but also because I am in the toddler zone with a four and almost three year old.   This is a time when textures, smells, and taste can be very scary.   If you mix that in with a child who is developing their independence, this can be one challenging time. I have many parents ask me what the right thing to do is for their toddler and I’ve addressed this in some of my other articles (check them out by searching toddler in t...

I was asked this specific question a lot in the last two weeks from clients, friends, and a physician group I work with.   We’ve all heard that our children are the first generation that will not outlive their parents.   Fifteen percent of children in the United States are considered overweight and another fifteen percent are at risk of being overweight.   There’s a lot of scary statistics out there and it's starting to cause some panic. Here are my thoughts.   I feel strongly that it’s important to catch irregular eating, unhealthy habits, or weight gain in kids earlier than later.   When I say early I mean as early as two believe it or not. There’s a reason that pediatricians and dietitians recommend changing from whole milk to skim after the age of two, as brains no longer require the extra fat intake for development.   If your child is in the toddler years or beyond and eats multiple servings of food, is ‘addicted’ to junk food, or there is co...