Child Psych Podcast Episode #199

About the Guest

Jennifer Anderson is a registered dietitian, founder of Kids Eat in Color, and CEO of Better Bites, a platform helping families prevent and address feeding and nutrition challenges. She holds a Master of Science in Public Health and is the author of Feed Them Well: A Guide to Raising Healthy, Confident Eaters for Life. Her work brings together nutrition research, child development, and the realities of feeding children.

Introduction to the Conversation

Feeding kids can come with an incredible amount of pressure. Are they eating enough? Should we limit sugar? What if they only want snacks? And could the way we handle food unintentionally affect their relationship with eating?

In this episode of The Child Psych Podcast, Tania Johnson sits down with Jennifer Anderson to explore how parents can move away from fear, guilt, and rigid feeding rules—and toward an approach that balances nutrition, boundaries, body awareness, and connection.

What We Discuss in This Episode

Jennifer shares what she discovered after taking a deep dive into the research on food restriction, intuitive eating, picky eating, and children’s relationship with food.

The conversation explores her concept of “embodied independence”: helping children learn to listen to their bodies while also developing the knowledge and skills they need to nourish themselves well.

Jennifer also challenges some of the extremes parents encounter online. Rather than choosing between strict f