— Cheryl Bell

Yeah. Um, I think that anytime a child has a neurodevelopmental difference, it can really add a layer of complexity and challenge to the whole feeding environment. And so, uh, I just wanna acknowledge how incredibly challenging it can be at times. One of the things that I talk about when it comes to picky eating, um, there was a publication in the Journal pediatrics in about 10 years ago in which they describe, um, picky eating in terms of the pyramid. So if you imagine a pyramid, the base of the pyramid, the lower 75% of the pyramid is actually kids with very typical eating. And so you might have the occasional, I'm not gonna eat that sort of a situation. And then the top 25% of the pyramid represents kids with varying degrees of pick eating. So mild selective eating, something more moderate. And then the very top of the pyramid represents the one to 5% of kids who have extreme selective eating. And these are kids where, um, it might be the case with your child where because of underlying medical conditions, there really are a lot of specific challenges. And I think if you are feeding, if your child's feeding falls in that top one to 5%, where it's, you know, highly selective eating, I think actually trying all the different dips and spreads and purees and things like that can be really helpful. But ultimately it might be beneficial to work with a professional that has experience. So a feeding therapist, an occupational therapist, a dietician, because again, when it's extreme selective eating, I think parents need much more support than, you know, a lot of the tips and tricks that we're talking about today. So depending on where you think your child falls, um, in that spectrum, uh, if you're not already getting specialized support, it's, it's something to consider. One thing I would add to that, Cheryl, and uh, this has worked with other children that I've worked with is cauliflower wings seem to work well. It's the texture that you've gotta get, right? I like to par boil the, uh, cauliflower florets before, uh, I coat them and I coat them in a chickpea flour, uh, batter and then they get baked in the oven. And then I offer a couple of little dipping sauces with it. And I have seen children actually like that, but it's the texture that you have to get right. And then the other part of it is that using poultry seasoning in that dish is another way to sort of replicate that McNugget flavor that children might be accustomed to. So those would be, uh, my suggestions as well. So, uh, that was a very, uh, uh, very good and interesting question. I appreciate that. Our next, Actually I just had a couple of other thoughts on that. One is, um, in terms of the nuggets specifically, I make tofu nuggets all the time. So basically just, you know, tearing off chunks of tofu and then, um, if you use oil drizzling, a little bit of seasoning, a little bit of oil and a little bit of corn starch and then just baking that, um, can give you that texture of a nugget. The other thing you might try is I find like that kids love fries of any sort. So if they're used to eating, you know, french fries, um, from a potato without at a restaurant, you could certainly try making them in baked form. Uh, and then using other vegetables in the shape of fries, so like carrot fries or sweet potato fries or zucchini fries. So, um, making a riff off of things that are already very familiar to them that they might already enjoy. That's another, uh, great suggestion. And I'll add to that, that I'm a big air fryer fan, uh, because they can get that crispness, especially when you're making things like potatoes. So you might wanna think about that and then take the vegetable ideas that Dr. Shah just had.