Feel confused about how to feed your family?
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Are you worried your picky toddler isn't meeting their nutrition needs?
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Do you have concerns about your child who's in a bigger body, but also want them to have a healthy relationship with food?
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Feel overwhelmed about where to begin with introducing solids to your baby?
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Are you and your child getting into power struggles about eating at mealtimes?
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Do you fear your young athlete might not be eating enough?
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Want to feed your kids differently than you were, but don't know where to start?
You're not alone. Feeding kids is one of the hardest jobs we have as parents.
How I can help
I'm a non-diet dietitian.
As a parent of two young children, I see you. I get why you worry about your child's health. I hear that you're concerned about the foods your child is or isn't eating. I also know that most well-intentioned strategies to help kids eat, like rewarding and bribing, might work in the moment, but tend to backfire in the long run.
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My approach combines coaching parents on feeding and child-focused nutrition sessions.
Informed by intuitive eating and responsive feeding, this two-pronged approach focuses on the long-term goal of raising a child who has a positive relationship with food and their body.
How to get started
I work virtually with parents and children to provide flexible scheduling for nutrition counseling.
I'm currently accepting clients in NY and CT, and I am in-network for Aetna, Cigna, and Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance.
The problem with nutrition advice for parents
Over the years, I've learned that much of the well-intentioned nutrition advice for parents causes more harm than good. Mainstream nutrition messaging tends to oversimplify feeding kids. Food is typically categorized as good or bad, healthy or unhealthy, right or wrong.
Typically, nutrition advice for parents fails to acknowledge feeding dynamics between the child and parent, the impact of the child's temperament, and the parent's own childhood experiences with feeding. Kids' personalities, appetites, taste/texture preferences, growth trajectory, and nutrition needs are important factors to consider in food parenting. And, how parents were fed as children typically informs parents' feeding style with their own children.
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Lastly, much of the well-meaning nutrition advice for parents unfortunately, tends to be mired in diet culture and weight stigma. A child's weight is oftentimes reduced down to a simple equation: eat less and move more. In reality, a child's weight is impacted by a multitude of factors beyond our control.
“Jackie's approach to nutrition teaches patience, kindness and self-compassion.”
Megan G., CT
Jackie's specialties
Picky eating
Concerns about weight
Fueling young athletes
Introducing solids
Toddler feeding
Jackie works with parents and children to approach their nutrition concerns through ongoing family nutrition counseling.