Double Plates and Family Meals!

Mealtimes can be stressful for families. This article showed a programme set in the family dining room that taught two young children with typical development to eat family meals with lasting results (3-year follow-up). Intervention was quick (9 days or less) and was at the same time as their older siblings’ programmes. The sooner young children can access evidenced-based intervention, the easier it is to help them learn better eating habits and prevent them from needing a more intensive intervention in clinic or hospital settings. There is no need for the old “wait and see” approach, hoping a child will grow out of it or deciding whether it is a disorder or picky/fussy eating or a phase. Onto a shift to early treatment for the feeding issues that are present to make family mealtimes more enjoyable and prevent risks and long-term negative impact for growing children.