Know a picky eater? Tips may help break habits

By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com

Candace Levanavage had run out of options. She was slowly beginning to realize her steady diet of burgers, fries and chicken tenders would not keep her healthy in the long run.

Simply changing her eating patterns wasn’t so easy. Levanavage, 20, of Pittston, is a picky eater in an extreme sense, and she becomes anxious around foods she’s never tried before, like fruit or certain vegetables.

Betsy Hicks, who has been researching picky eating habits in children and adults for 15 years, had some solutions to Levanavage’s problem, but one was especially helpful – start small.

“Have you had parsley in anything?” Hicks asked Levanavage at a seminar on picky eating habits.

Levanavage insisted she had, on potatoes and pasta dishes her Italian mother has served her throughout the years.

“Take a piece of parsley and just put it in your mouth,” said Hicks. “Every day, increase the amount of time you keep it in your mouth.”

Levanavage admitted that was the single most inspiring piece of advice she’d heard in years.

“I’ve never heard anything like this before, that I could just spit something out after a while,” she said. “I would cry (if I had to eat the whole thing at once).”

Hicks presented a seminar based on her new book, “Picky Eating Solutions,” on Oct. 25 at Misericordia University. A diet counselor, she is co-founder of Elementals Living, a holistic medicine center in Wisconsin.

Her research began when she saw patterns within the eating behaviors of her own three children. After studying in 15 countries, appearing on “Voice of America” over 200 times and presenting seminars and speeches throughout the world, she’s become an expert on the subject.

Hicks’ advice to parents struggling with temper tantrums at the table is what most parents would expect: patience, consistency and love.

Her 10 easy steps to expanding children’s food horizons included eliminating grazing, letting children help with meals and focusing on family time at the table.

Hicks also focused on a story that could help parents realize what their children are facing when trying new foods. It’s called, “The Worm Story.”

“In Thailand, they eat worms while they’re alive. That freaks me out,” she said. “Now, when I think about a child who doesn’t want to eat broccoli, I say it’s like getting me to eat a worm. I’d have to be really hungry.”

She said that daylong noshing on cereal and crackers disables a child’s body to become truly hungry, making it easier to refuse new foods.

Hicks also discussed what a body needs to be healthy, and why processed foods don’t keep a stomach satisfied.

“Some dieticians say a calorie is a calorie is a calorie – that’s not true,” she said. “Look at the labels and see how many ingredients you can’t pronounce. Your body has no idea what to do with these chemicals, and that’s why you’re hungry later because your body is asking for nutrition, not a 100-calorie pack of Oreos.”

John and Allison Leonard drove all the way from Hazleton to see if Hicks had any advice to offer concerning their 2-year-old daughter who tends to spit out food when presented with anything new.

“We just want to not make dinner time an argument,” said John.

“I have new perspective and enthusiasm for the situation,” said Allison.

And what does the toddler like to nosh on?

“Meatballs and peanut butter,” laughed Allison. “But not together.”