Book Review: Fearless Feeding by Castle/Jacobsen

There are very few books that stay on the bookshelf in my bedroom for quick reference and easy access and today I wanted to share one of them with you.

Fearless Feeding: How to Raise Healthy Eaters from High Chair to High School

Written by Jill Castle and Maryann Jacobsen

Published in 2013, this book has some great insights and helpful tips on raising well-rounded eaters at all ages and stages of development.  I love that it is written by two registered dietitians with experience in the realm of pediatric and family nutrition, in other words, a knowledgeable team to provide advice.  What also makes the authors credible in my mind is that both are moms who have sat in the trenches of motherhood and wrestled with what to serve their families.

Chapter 1 is the must-read introduction into the Fearless Feeding Strategy.  It takes some time to consider the WHAT, HOW and WHY of feeding our kids.  Here's my quick summary:

• WHAT: picking foods based on nutritional needs, balancing nourishing and "fun" foods, using variety and paying attention to portions
• HOW: structure of meal/snack times, parental attitude toward food choices and consumption
• WHY: stages of development can be predicted but every child has a different food personality

The next four chapters can be read as needed since they are broken into age groups (infancy, toddler, school age, teenager).  When I first bought this book in 2013, I only read the infant and toddler chapters since my oldest was a mere 4 years old.  Recently, I picked the book off the shelf again to read through the school-aged section since I have two kids in that category.

The final three chapters, in my mind, focus on the troubleshooting and "what do I do with this information".  They help you as a parent identify how your own childhood relationship with food could be affecting how you parent, how to determine if maybe your child has a food issue that could use professional intervention and also tips and recipes to help with meal planning and execution.

So there you have it, I highly recommend looking this book up either on Amazon or at your local library.  I've found it to be a resource worth having around the house!