Broccoli Boot Camp: Basic Training for Parents of Selective Eaters

by Keith E. Williams PhD, Laura Seiverling

Overview

Help Your Picky Eaters Expand Their Food Choices!

Broccoli Boot Camp presents clearly written, commonsense behavioral interventions to successfully expand diet variety and preferences for healthy foods. It begins with the simple premise that when children are encouraged to taste and consume tiny portions of new foods (using the authors’ system), they learn to accept and enjoy them as part of their regular diets.

Other topics include:

• Difficult behaviors encountered at mealtime
• Nutritional deficiencies seen in selective eaters
• Food allergies
• And much more!

The second edition of Broccoli Boot Camp contains updated and revised content that addresses selective eating patterns across a wider range of children, including those diagnosed with issues such as avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder and pediatric feeding disorder.

There are two new chapters. Chapter 18 focuses specifically on fading or stopping a plan, and Chapter 21 is a guide for clinicians and professionals.

Using compelling, real-life case studies, Broccoli Boot Camp gives parents the tools they need to promote healthy eating for their child, as well as improving the family mealtime experience!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781957984971
Publisher:	Future Horizons, Inc.
Publication date:	10/01/2024
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Dr. Keith Williams is a licensed psychologist and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). He has been the Director of the Feeding Program at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center for twenty years. Dr. Williams is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Penn State College of Medicine, where he teaches medical students, graduate students, and medical residents. He has written more than sixty book chapters and articles in the area of feeding problems and child nutrition. He is coauthor of Treating Eating Problems of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Developmental Disabilities: Interventions for Professionals and Parents.

Dr. Laura Seiverling is a licensed psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). She worked for five years at St. Mary’s Hospital for Children’s Center for Pediatric Feeding Disorders in Bayside, New York, serving as both psychologist and clinical supervisor for the program. She now resides in South Carolina and holds an Assistant Teaching Professor position for Ball State University’s Applied Behavior Analysis graduate program. Dr. Seiverling has over ten years of experience providing treatment for feeding, as well as other behaviors in children. She has published more than thirty articles and book chapters in the areas of feeding problems, autism spectrum disorder, staff and parent training, and behavioral interventions.

Read an Excerpt

Dear parent or family member, This book, Broccoli Boot Camp, was written expressly for families with a child who is a selective eater. In the past, children with narrow diets may have been labeled as picky eaters. Some of these children may have the diagnosis of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder or pediatric feeding disorder. Regardless of diagnosis or label, these children exhibit selective eating, sometimes selective to the point of impacting health or growth. The goal of this book is to provide you with information not only about interventions for selective eating but also selective eating more generally. We want to provide you with information that might help you better understand your child’s eating and make interventions you use at home more successful. Because we know children and families are different, we have included a range of interventions. We have also included a number of topics applicable to selective eating. Before developing and starting an intervention for your child, we suggest reading the entire book. We want you to have access to all of the information we have provided, as it may be helpful as you decide upon a course of action.

Regards,

Keith and Laura

Table of Contents

Introduction    vii

CHAPTER 1 Selective Eating     1

CHAPTER 2 The Role of Repeated Taste Exposure     13

CHAPTER 3 “Mealtime Battles”    19

CHAPTER 4 Do Not Become Preoccupied with Amount    29

CHAPTER 5 Adaptations for Children Who Are Underweight and Overweight    33

CHAPTER 6 Autism Spectrum Disorders and Selective Eating    39

CHAPTER 7 Sensory Issues and Selective Eating    45

CHAPTER 8 Diet Considerations    49

CHAPTER 9 Factors That Can Affect Eating    59

CHAPTER 10 Why and How Interventions Work: Components Used before Tasting    71

CHAPTER 11 Why and How Interventions Work: Using Reinforcement and Ignoring    89

CHAPTER 12 Before You Develop an Intervention    101

CHAPTER 13 Plan 1: A Structured Meal Plan Using Modeling, Praise, and Food Choice    107

CHAPTER 14 Plan 2: The Family Meal    115

CHAPTER 15 Plan 3: Plate A-Plate B    123

CHAPTER 16 Plan 4: Taste Sessions    139

CHAPTER 17 Plan 5: Taste Sessions with a Required Bite    147

CHAPTER 18 Hierarchical Interventions: How They Work and How Sometimes They Do Not  157

CHAPTER 19 Adaptations for Older Children    161

Conclusion    167

Appendix A Mealtime Data Sheet    170

Appendix B Food Exposure Data Sheet    171

Appendix C Taste Session Data Sheet    172

Appendix D Visual Supports 173

Appendix E Sample Behavioral Contract and Weekly Data Sheet    176

Appendix F Good Behavior Chart    180

Appendix G Helpful Nutrition Resources    181

References    182

Index    194

About the Authors    197

What People are Saying About This

Ph.D., ABPP, Vice President of Behavioral Health, B - Patrick C. Friman

“Feeding their children is perhaps the most basic job assigned to parents but also one that can be the most challenging. The consequences of inadequate nutrition multiply quickly and the ways determined children can defy parental efforts to promote good eating habits are many and maddening. Although billed as a book for parents, and it is truly an invaluable resource for them, it is also a tremendous resource for the professionals who serve them.”

Editorial Reviews

"Feeding their children is perhaps the most basic job assigned to parents but also one that can be the most challenging. The consequences of inadequate nutrition multiply quickly and the ways determined children can defy parental efforts to promote good eating habits are many and maddening. Although billed as a book for parents, and it is truly an invaluable resource for them, it is also a tremendous resource for the professionals who serve them."
-Patrick C. Friman, Ph.D., ABPP, Vice President of Behavioral Health, Boys Town Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, UNMC

"The book is brimming with good advice and stories about children who struggle with selective eating issues and their families. The authors’ wisdom, depth of knowledge, and experience is evident in their sensible recommendations."
-Claire Wurtzel, learning disability specialist, and co-educational director of the Hidden Sparks Program

"This is an incredibly well-researched, informative, and accessible resource for parents challenged by selective eating. Broccoli Boot Camp is a must read, whether your child is a picky eater or demonstrates more significant issues. This step-by-step approach, firmly grounded in applied behavior analysis and replete with practical strategies and case examples, is the soil in which real and lasting change can take root!"
-David Celiberti, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Association for Science in Autism Treatment

“Broccoli Boot Camp is the comprehensive guide for the treatment of severe selective eating. Detailed and precise, yet accessible and interesting, it empowers parents to fundamentally change the health trajectory of their child’s life.”
-Sabrina Freeman, Ph.D., author of The Complete Guide to Autism Treatments, Science for Sale in the Autism Wars, and Teach Me Language, and parent of a child with selective eating

From the Publisher