Do your kids seem to exist on air alone?
Do you switch on auto-pilot when it’s time to make your child’s lunch?
Yogurt, PBJ, chips, cookie? (Bonus points for making that PBJ you already know will come back untouched.)
Or maybe when you go out to a restaurant, you know you have to find one that serves the right kind of chicken nuggets and fries or the right mac and cheese.
Or…. you’ll be packing their meal to bring along with you.
To the restaurant.
Where you’re not supposed to have to cook.
Because You. Are. Always. Cooking.
Do you ever wonder how you got to this point of cooking two separate meals?
Every. Single. Meal.
And if that’s not bad enough, if everything is not perfect (the right brand, the right shape, the right tenderness or crispiness, the right temperature, the right color, the right ____________ fill in the blank) with said food, THE WORLD MAY END—meaning they aren’t going to eat it anyway.
Take a moment and let this reality sink in. It’s okay. There’s no judgment here. You do what you need to do in the moment, and that’s okay.
But there is a better way.
And we have the solution for you.
What we are describing are FOOD JAGS.
Image shows chicken nuggets and French fries
Does this sound familiar? Your child eats grilled cheese sandwiches. But... only with the square yellow cheese that comes in the plastic wrapping prepared on white bread. It MUST be grilled to that perfect golden bronze color and not one second longer. It must be served while it’s still warm but not too hot to make the cheese drip. And if it’s cut incorrectly? Forget about it.
You might as well serve it directly into the trash can.
Simply put, a food jag is when a child accepts and eats only foods that are prepared and maybe even presented in one specific way.
The difficulty with food jags is that the more a child starts to expect the food to be served in a certain way, the more rigid and inflexible they become.
If a brand changes their packaging, the child could drop that food from their preferred list and then parents are left struggling to serve an even narrower range of foods.
It has been studied and shown that if a child drops a food from their narrowed range, they often will not go back to eating that food again without specific intervention.
Food jags always start for a reason. It could be that something unpredictable happens, either positive or negative, while eating a certain food. Most people can shrug off a slight change, but kids who already have heightened anxiety to sensory challenges will seem hyper-focused on any change. Any slight change in a food can make these kids extremely uncomfortable and anxious, which leads to not being able to eat.
As caregivers, you strive to provide your children with a healthy and balanced diet, ensuring they receive the nutrients they need to grow and flourish. However, when faced with pediatric feeding disorders and picky eating tendencies, mealtimes can become a challenging battleground.
When faced with food jags, it may seem harmless at first. However, relying heavily on a limited range of foods can pose several risks. Nutritional deficiencies, inadequate intake of essential vitamins and minerals, and the potential for unhealthy eating habits are among the concerns associated with food jags. It's crucial to address and prevent this pattern to ensure your little ones grow and thrive.
There is help for food jags!
We’ve compiled a list of comprehensive and research-based strategies to avoid food jags.
In it, we provide practical and proven ways to help your child to become more flexible and adaptable to be able to eat a variety of foods.
Ready to help your child avoid food jags?
