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 food rules and allowing children complete freedom around food, she explains how families can create predictable routines, set neutral boundaries, reduce shame, and adapt their approach to the needs of the individual child.

What You’ll Learn

Why structure and permission can exist together around food

What the research says about restricting foods like cookies and sweets

How meal and snack routines can support hunger and fullness awareness

When picky eating may be typical—and when it may signal something more

Why how we set food boundaries may matter as much as the boundary itself

Who This Episode Is For

This episode is for parents and caregivers navigating picky eating, constant snack requests, food battles, or anxiety about “getting nutrition right.” It’s also a valuable conversation for therapists, educators, dietitians, and professionals interested in the connection between child nutrition, emotional wellbeing, parenting, and healthy relationships with food.