A recent Health Professional Radio episode talked about the eating habits of Australian children. The conclusion…as if we didn’t already know? Those eating habits were unhealthy.

But this is not just an ‘Australian issue’:
A U.S. survey found that 23 percent of respondents considered a child in their household to be a fussy eater and 26 percent of those surveyed said they, themselves, were fussy eaters.
Of 300 Chinese preschoolers evaluated, 54 percent “were found to have picky-eating behaviour”.
The BBC’s Fussy Old World program found that fussy eating is not a ‘just-London’ issue—Nairobi and Kolkata have picky eaters, too.

So, what’s to be done? One of the keys, according to experts such as the Australian National Eating Disorders Collaboration, is early intervention.

That’s why I am so pleased that the Little Fusspot Online Therapy Courses are now ready to be launched into the world. Our 17 beta pilot testers have diligently worked their ways through the chapters and techniques. Here are a few snippets of triumph coming from our group therapy page on Facebook:

  • My little fusspot picked a plate of mini peppers and cucumber over fish fingers and potato waffles last night—a very happy mummy and thank you to this course!! Slow and steady progress ?
  • Excuse the half naked kids (we just came back from the park) but I had to post as it’s been a long time since we tried and liked new foods, but today after trying some boiled egg, Mr Fusspot said he liked it!
  • We have figured out that eggs are a safe food so have been trying some variations for breakfast instead of toast or cereal and milk. Zucchini slice success! Took all of 15 minutes to make a huge slice yesterday and ate almost a full piece, no fuss.
  • Yes, this helps. My son likes to do the Check Marks on the boxes. When he sees the picture with the boy eating, he says: “This is me eating”. I have to print in colour. Thanks Beth!
  • I haven’t tried the 4 bowl technique yet, but I had great success so far with sensory playing. My daughter would never try cauliflower, but I suggested cooking it for her baby. She cut it, prepared it and then I suggested trying a bit, and she was happy straight away. She now loves it.

Little Fusspots has courses for every type of fussy eater. You will learn how to end mealtime battles with your Little Fusspot for good through practical, research-based strategies.

Now, thanks to my son, Ryder, other fussy eaters can discover the fun of eating food. You see, Ryder had food issues from Day 1. As an infant whose weight was always worrying, he turned into a toddler who was ‘failing to thrive’. The fact that I was a clinical nutritionist was not helping at all. The theories and methods I had learned were not working and the situation was getting worse and worse.

Fortunately, some of the best feeding therapists in the world were located nearby. A short drive brought me to leading OT’s and dieticians such as Gillian Griffiths and Denise Stapleton. Hours and hours of workshops about sensory enrichment techniques (and hours and hours of work with my son) made me realize that other little fusspots could be helped by the techniques which had taught my son to love food—and healthy food at that.

One of the important things I learned along the way is that ‘adventurous’ mixes of nutritious food, some of which I wouldn’t taste myself, are not your best option. This is why all courses include a cookbook of over 100, “Little Fusspot approved” recipes.

Another thing is support. Having support from people like yourself who are dealing with the same issues day to day is a huge help. So, all courses include access to our members-only Facebook support group full of parents who are and/or have been where you are now.

Visit our courses page for more information.

You’ve got nothing to lose by trying us out because if we fail to make improvements, we happily refund your money.