Expert Advice from a Dietitian Mom w/ADHD – @TheFamilyNutritionist
Annika: You know, if your kid is not able to sit still at a meal time and they have ADHD, well, yeah, I’d totally get that. There are different strategies we can use for kiddos with ADHD particularly to help them be more comfortable at meal times.
(Coming up on the podcast — we’re interviewing Alex Turnbull.)
Annika: How could we then talk about food with kids to help them not have that fear of food? Also known as the family nutritionist online.
Alex: I’ve heard it all. I’ve been in school cafeterias where I hear kindergarteners telling their other friends that chocolate milk is bad for them.
(She’s a registered dietitian and mom with ADHD of kids with ADHD, too.)
Alex: If there’s a situation where they really do not want to try something, I will tell parents to have them feed you.
Annika: Welcome to the Nutritional Mental Health Podcast — the podcast where we talk about the intersection of nutrition and psychological sciences. I’m your host, Annika Angelo, an ADHD nutrition research expert and science communicator, here to dive into ADHD nutrition research. I have a newsletter, a Patreon, a free Discord community, and I’m on all of the socials — all of that is linked in the notes below. And now, let’s get into the episode.
Who is The Family Nutritionist?
Annika: What is actually your journey into ADHD, nutrition, child nutrition? Why are you doing what you’re doing right now?
Alex: Oh, yes — that could be a whole story, but I’ll keep it short(ish). I’ve always loved food. For myself, combining the journey of ADHD and food, I’ve always kind of searched for perfection in food. I was always a perfectionist in school since I was younger, and that’s one of the qualities of ADHD I saw in myself — especially in women, we tend to mask things through that perfection, which is why so many of us are undiagnosed. Like myself — I got diagnosed in my 30s, as an adult.
So that’s one part of it. But I’ve always loved food, so I got into dietetics and became a registered dietitian. I always knew I wanted to work with kids — that was my wheelhouse. I actually started in school food service, so my love for nutrition morphed into feeding kids, not just myself. Working in school food service really opened my eyes to all the misinformation, generalizing about foods and food systems, and the fear-mongering around foods. That’s a big passion of mine — making food fun, not feared.
I got into the picky-eating realm, helping parents who are having a hard time getting their kids to eat fruits and vegetables. Then, having been diagnosed with ADHD myself, and my daughter too, I saw how the two really intermingled — ADHD and the foods we choose, whether it’s convenience or sensory preferences. This whole world morphed together for me. So while I don’t focus 100% on ADHD and kids’ nutrition, it’s a big piece of my puzzle of educating parents, especially with all the research and fear around foods right now.
Annika: Well, hopefully we’ll be able to dispel some of these fears. I’m not a parent myself, but I can place myself in the shoes a little bit. I just feel like if I had a kid — well, first off, I know they’re going to be probably super picky, because I am.
Alex: It’s possible. Well, let’s hope you get the kind where they’re like, “let’s eat anything.”
Annika: But odds are probably I won’t get that.
Alex: Maybe in the beginning that could be developmentally appropriate, but as they get older, it could be more challenging.
Annika: But I just think about how much parents care for their kids, and how they want to do so much for them — do everything perfectly.
Navigating nutrition as a parent
Alex: Yes. And there’s so many things we don’t know, so it can be scary to navigate as a parent.
Annika: Oh, absolutely.
Alex: And we want the best for our kids — we want them to eat healthy things. When you become a parent, you lose so much control over something that’s so important in your life. We control so much of our kids’ lives — all these decisions — but there’s this big piece we can’t control: eating. When we try to micromanage and control that too much, it becomes this huge battle.
So there’s a word: autonomy. That’s a word I use a lot with parents — giving kids autonomy at the table, when so many decisions are made for them. The power you can give your kids is autonomy over how much food they’re eating and what they choose to eat from what’s available. Have you ever heard of the “division of responsibility”?
Annika: I don’t think so.
Alex: It’s a term coined by Ellen Satter, also a registered dietitian in the child nutrition field. The division of responsibility distinguishes the parent’s role from the child’s role when it comes to eating, to help create competent, healthy eaters — versus the restrictive, controlling “you’re going to eat this, you’re not leaving the table until you finish” approach a lot of us grew up with.
Annika: Yes.
Alex: The parent’s role — and this is a foundation that’s important whether your child has ADHD or not — is to decide when we’re eating and what we’re eating. We do the grocery shopping, we purchase the foods, we dictate the schedule. But the child gets to choose if they eat and how much they eat. That’s a really difficult thing for parents to let go of — we want to micromanage their job. It gets really tricky, especially with kids with ADHD. My daughter, seven, has ADHD. She’s on an appetite suppressant and has a very low appetite. I just want to make sure she’s eating enough, but there’s a balance of not forcing her to eat while also making sure she’s getting enough for her body.
Annika: Yeah, it’s kind of complex if you think about it. Honestly, I think about even my own life — I have a really hard time finishing my plate. I’ll leave the last 5%.
Alex: And that’s completely healthy, to leave some on the plate. We don’t want to waste food — that’s another big issue, especially when things cost so much. But also, my own experience is I just want to clean the plate — “there’s only a little left, why not?” But listening to our bodies, and helping our kids do that too, is really important. Kids with ADHD aren’t always the best at body awareness — they’re not great at learning their internal cues. I talk to parents about how we usually think of the five senses, but there are really eight.
Annika: Okay, I’m so curious — go for it.
Alex: Smell, touch, feel, hear, taste — those are the main ones. But there’s also proprioception — body awareness. Kids with ADHD aren’t always great at being aware of their body; they have no boundaries, they’re all over the place, depending on the child. Then there’s interoception, our internal awareness, which really relates to eating.
Annika: Yes.
Alex: Understanding our body, when we’re hungry and when we’re full — our brain connecting to those things. Then there’s vestibular, which is balance — controlling your body. These things play a really big role, not just with kids with ADHD, but in feeding kids in general. So if your kid can’t sit still at mealtime and they have ADHD — yeah, I totally get that. Forcing them to sit still isn’t always helpful. There are different strategies we can use for kiddos with ADHD, particularly to help them be more comfortable at meal times, in a world that’s built for neurotypicals.
Annika: I was going to go a different direction, but I want to know what these strategies are, honestly.
Strategies to help ADHD kids at mealtime
Alex: I’ve been able to apply them with my daughter and see what helps. Of course every child is different, so sometimes it’s trial and error — one thing works in one situation and not another. My daughter is so wiggly, so I let her stand when she eats, let her have movement. As much as I find myself wanting to say “come to the table, focus,” that’s just not what her body needs. So: letting them stand. She’ll swing sometimes, hold the counter and swing. You can get fidget bands for their feet — this is common in schools, “busy bands.” Wobble boards, all kinds of things. If anyone has questions about this, occupational therapists are the experts — a great resource.
Another thing I like is an engaging, interactive meal. I talk a lot about novelty with ADHD, because — I see it in myself and my daughter — novelty gives us a hit of dopamine. So if we bring kids to the table with something engaging: fun, kid-friendly chopsticks, a cheese grater so they can grate their own cheese, kid-safe knives to cut their own food. We do a lot of family-style meals so they scoop themselves — more interactive, instead of a plate already made up for them. Those are a few of the little tricks I use.
Annika: What do you think about distraction? I think about watching videos — honestly, it helps me choke down my food some days.
Alex: Oh, I have a love-hate relationship with it — I don’t love screens at meal times. Sometimes there are situations where we do it — it’s very individual. But sometimes distraction doesn’t actually help you be aware of eating; it becomes more mindless eating. I think we can find a balance. If a parent is using TV, maybe we reel it in slowly — only one meal time with it, or use music, do conversation starters at the table so it’s still engaging. But I totally get that screen time is an outlet for parents — “oh, I can breathe right now” — and it helps them. So it can be tricky.
I’ll say — last night, and it’s funny we’re talking about this — my daughter’s in second grade, and I’ve visited her school lunch before. One thing they do in the last five minutes is “quiet five” — they dim the lights and everyone eats quietly, because the lunchroom gets so loud. The quietest tables get released first to recess. Last night my daughter asked if we could do it at dinner, and I said sure. We dimmed the lights and ate quietly, not in darkness, and it was amazing how well we focused on eating and finished quicker — there weren’t so many distractions.
Annika: So I think you have to kind of—
Alex: Yeah, that’s really individual, whatever works for your kids. I try not to have TV for my kids because they don’t pay attention to eating — except, you know, a fun Sunday morning, watching cartoons and eating breakfast, I don’t really care. For the most part we try to minimize distractions, but there is a benefit to them sometimes.
Annika: That’s not an easy answer. It sounds highly individualized — maybe an 80/20 approach for screens.
Alex: Exactly. When you’re at restaurants it’s a different story, but at home—
Annika: It’s tough, but I get it. Also — I’m not here to judge, that’s for sure.
Alex: Yeah, doing whatever you can do to help your kid.
Annika: Right — it could help them finally finish eating, because they’re so distracted they just keep shoveling food in. But then there’s the other side — it doesn’t teach them to notice their body cues, or it could help them overeat.
Alex: Right, and that’s one of the points of focusing on the short game versus the long game — we always have to keep the long-term goal in mind for our kids’ relationship with food. Sometimes, especially with kids on appetite suppressants, it’s “I need every calorie I can get for you.” But what other dietary interventions can we use to increase calories? We have to look at that too. A lot of times as parents — I’m guilty too — we want the quick fix. I’m busy, I’m tired, I just need it fixed, so plop the iPad down. I totally get it. But we do have to keep that short game versus long game in mind.
Getting kids with ADHD to eat
Annika: I think that comes back to what you were talking about with interoception. How could we cultivate more interoception in kids, especially with ADHD?
Alex: I think it’s important to talk to kids about how food works in our body — this is age-dependent. Little kids under five, we don’t need to get too deep into nutrition education, just incorporate little bits. With my daughter, being on medication with appetite suppression, we talk about how her medication doesn’t really let her brain help with that — but there’s also the body-awareness piece of ADHD in general. Our body doesn’t always understand when we’re full. We still need to give our body the energy and nutrition it needs to do fun things, and it’s important to relate that to things relevant to them — not “eat this because it’s healthy,” but “it’s going to be summer, you want energy to play outside and ride your bike, we need muscles to pedal up the hill.” They’re not going to get it right away — it takes time, continually feeding them that message, because it’s the long game: what will they remember about how we talked about food, versus forcing them to eat things. As a parent of a child with ADHD, it is challenging — I just want my daughter to eat sometimes, and I don’t care what she eats.
Annika: So how do we go about helping them eat foods they don’t want to eat? That’s probably one of the hardest things as a parent — seeing your kid not eat.
Alex: Not eating is one thing, but there’s also eating foods that aren’t as nutrient-dense — kids really love carbohydrate-rich foods. We’re the adults, we have ownership over purchasing, but it’s important to buy foods your family loves too — there’s nutritional value, and there’s value in joy and emotion around food. Continuous exposure is always important. I’m a big believer in a low-pressure mealtime environment, so we’re not forcing kids to eat different foods. If there’s a food your child doesn’t like — vegetables, say, since that’s a tricky one — instead of forcing them, or the “take two bites” strategy (which I don’t necessarily recommend), we can help them explore it, which is great for kids with ADHD who need that engagement piece.
Fun fact: everyone thinks eating is just picking up food, chewing, swallowing — a two-step process. Actually there are over 30 steps in eating. It’s one of the most complicated sensory experiences our body goes through. That can be broken down into roughly six steps, which is helpful for parents in the long game — or medium game — of helping kids learn to like new foods, which is huge for picky eaters with ADHD.
The first step is just tolerating the presence of food — some kids with sensory processing differences can’t even stand to be in the same room as certain food smells. The second step is interacting with the food — maybe scooping it from a bowl to a plate without touching or tasting it. Then smelling: asking “what does this smell like to you?” is a form of progress. Then touching — picking it up, looking at it. Then tasting — which isn’t even eating it yet, just licking it, touching it to the tongue, or putting it in the mouth and spitting it out. Giving kids the option to spit it out, without having to eat it, can be huge.
It’s also important to leverage what your kids like and when they’re hungry. I do this a lot with my daughter — when she gets home from school around 3pm, her medication has worn off and she’s really hungry. I leverage that time: instead of dinner, I give her a giant snack board with a bunch of different foods — nuts, seeds, eggs, cheese, fruits, veggies, a bit of novelty. Then dinner might be a lighter meal for her. We have this expectation in our heads that dinner is the big meal, because that’s when working parents are with their kids — but that might not be their time to eat a lot. So I encourage parents, especially with kids with ADHD, to think in mini meals instead of a small snack plus one big meal — still providing a variety of nutrition, but less overwhelming, with more manageable expectations.
Annika: I loved that — especially the mini-meals point. I need that for myself too. It’s overwhelming to think about going down to the kitchen and making a full lunch, even working from home. A small snack a few times a day is way more manageable for me.
Also — I love that you said that, because we just got a new research study, like 20-ish days ago, about snacking behavior in ADHD.
Alex: Okay.
Annika: It found that people with ADHD tend to snack more often than neurotypicals, but it wasn’t related to emotions.
Alex: Huh. Right.
Annika: Basically, the instant-gratification piece — that’s maybe just how we’re wired to eat. It connects to other literature too, like glucose metabolism in the brain.
Alex: Yeah, that makes sense.
Annika: Blood sugar control.
Alex: Absolutely.
Annika: So maybe we’re onto something here.
Alex: Well, and I think a lot of times, especially in the parenting world, we think of “snacks” as this packaged snack-cracker-cookie thing. I want to change parents’ perspective — a snack is just a mini meal. It can be whatever you want, but let’s also make sure there’s a fruit and vegetable — leverage the fact that kids love snacks.
Alex: We know we don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables, so I always say to try to add a fruit and vegetable to whatever meal it is, just to get more in. But I’m a dietitian, so this is what I do.
Annika: Are you sure that fruit isn’t the enemy, or the oxalates in vegetables?
Alex: Definitely not. Those are privileged barriers, honestly — it’s like people are trying to make eating healthy harder.
Annika: I am not a fan of that.
Alex: Yeah, that’s the other hard part — a lot of parents get that messaging and think “wait, maybe I shouldn’t be giving my kid this,” and there’s so much conflicting messaging, and they’re just trying to do their best, and it can trickle down to their kid.
Alex: It’s — I think the old terminology used to be “almond mom,” and now we have orthorexia-type framing, and it can be a really slippery, dangerous slope in how we talk about food.
Alex: And as someone who’s probably had orthorexia in my 20s, and struggled with trying to eat perfectly — I do not love that. That’s also a big passion of mine: making food fun, not feared. There’s accessibility, budget, cost, whether you actually like a food — so many things involved in why we choose the foods we do. Fear and guilt shouldn’t be part of it.
Reducing food fear
Annika: So how could we talk about food with kids to help them not have that fear of food they probably already have?
Alex: Oh, man — I’ve heard it all. I’ve been in school cafeterias hearing kindergarteners tell their friends “chocolate milk is bad for you.” I don’t love the words “bad” and “good” when it comes to nutrition — sometimes it’s hard to avoid entirely, but I try to talk about what foods can do for us. My daughter had a chocolate dessert the other night and said, “I’d eat four of these, they’re so yummy.” I saw that as an opportunity to ask, “Sometimes we want to eat a lot because it tastes good — but how do you think you’d feel if you ate four of these?” Helping them understand, rather than always just telling them — asking and having them think it through — can be really powerful.
I really try to emphasize eating a lot of different foods. My son once said something wasn’t healthy, and I told him: what’s actually not healthy is not including foods you love — it’s about eating a little of those, not none. What’s not healthy is cutting out foods you love. We want to eat lots of different kinds of foods, emphasizing variety over micromanaging specific foods and ingredients, because that can be dangerous. I get that we also want to teach limiting added sugars and sodium — it’s a delicate balance.
Annika: It’s not easy, that’s for sure.
Alex: No, especially if you yourself have all this diet culture ingrained in your head.
Annika: Oh my gosh, yes — a lot to unlearn.
Alex: It’s tricky. And there are so many outside things our kids hear and see, especially at school. So we have to come back to: what do you have control over, and what are your kids hearing most of the time? They’re going to grow up with what they remember from your house more than what they heard from one other person.
Annika: And then there’s social media, which I’m not excited about for parenting.
Alex: Yeah, that—
Annika: Wow, that’s going to be really hard to navigate.
Alex: Especially with food — and that’s a whole other thing, phones in schools and social media.
How to introduce foods to ADHD kids
Annika: Going back a bit — you mentioned the different steps to eating, and started to talk about introducing foods. Let’s explore that more — how can we introduce foods to kids to decrease anxiety around food and improve their desire to try different foods?
Alex: Going back to autonomy — keeping a low-pressure mealtime experience so kids feel safe. Getting your kids involved is huge: ask what they’d like on the grocery list, maybe a new food, or take them grocery shopping (I know that’s daunting) and let them pick something new. Letting our kids explore and play with food, especially when younger, is so important.
I always encourage parents to get their kids in the kitchen early on. It builds confidence — kids in the kitchen eat more fruits and vegetables, and are more likely to try foods than if it’s just put on their plate. The other night I gave my kids a cutting board, kid-safe knives, and mini cucumbers — they chopped them up and ate almost all of them. If I’d just put cucumber slices on their plate, I bet they’d sit there untouched.
If there’s a food they really don’t want to try, one thing I tell parents is: have them feed you. “Can you feed this to Mommy?” It’s amazing how often they then want a turn to try it themselves — that trust and role-modeling, plus being involved in helping, is huge.
Another example: a “crunch contest” — let’s see who can crunch the carrot the loudest. It’s fun, they want to do it, and naturally they’re trying and eating it even if they weren’t excited about it going in. We have to help them engage with food in some way and view that as progress, celebrating small steps. If your kid is really particular — say, only likes one specific chicken nugget — maybe change the brand or shape, adding a little variety to a food they already love, so we slowly build comfort trying different things. It takes effort and patience, that’s for sure.
Annika: What if they have a lot of sensory processing difficulties?
Alex: That’s a good question, and it depends on the child and what those sensory challenges are — colors, textures? If kids like crunchy foods, we might find freeze-dried fruits so they still get fruit but with a crunchy experience instead of soft. We have to figure out how to tweak preferences to expand their variety — certainly not easy.
Annika: I really appreciate how there’s more messaging online now about different experiences with food and autism, ADHD, SPD.
Alex: Yep.
Annika: And there’s ARFID.
Alex: Yes, I think it’d be great to talk about that here too.
What if my kid has ARFID or PFD?
Alex: It’s not just “kids are picky and being little stinkers” — there’s some developmental appropriateness to picky eating, but for the most part, if kids are really struggling and meal times are stressful, there might be an underlying issue — like ARFID, avoidant restrictive food intake disorder. Think of it almost like an eating disorder without the body-image piece.
Annika: So it’s not like anorexia or bulimia.
Alex: Right — it’s fear or anxiety around food, often related to a sensory experience, maybe a choking incident. They’re associating fear with food, and eating in general isn’t a fun experience for them — these kids aren’t just trying to make life difficult for adults. There’s also pediatric feeding disorder, a relatively new diagnosis, more related to medical reasons someone struggles to eat — chewing or swallowing challenges, for example. A bit different from ARFID, but there are real reasons kids have eating challenges. If your kid is in this situation, it’s important to get individualized help — ask your child’s healthcare provider for a referral to feeding therapy, at least for an evaluation. You’ll usually work with a speech-language pathologist and occupational therapist through the feeding challenges with expert, individualized care.
Annika: Yes — expert individualized care is key, because as much as it’d be great to just say “here’s what to do for ARFID”—
Alex: It’s so variable — every kid is different. It’d be like trying to treat all kids with ADHD with the same medication.
Annika: Right, which doesn’t work for all kids, and alone certainly doesn’t work.
Alex: As a content creator making educational content for parents, especially on picky eating — would I love to solve your child’s eating challenges through social media? That’d be great, but it’s not the case. There are helpful tips and forms of knowledge, but there comes a point where you need more individualized care, and you have to advocate for that — because not all healthcare professionals get it right away. Even I, as a dietitian, have been dismissed talking to my child’s pediatrician about something like iron — and it’s important to say, “No, I have concerns, this is hard, I need help, we need help.” It’s not just about the kids — it’s an experience for the whole family, whether it’s ADHD or feeding, or both.
Annika: Yes. Let’s pivot toward feeding patterns with ADHD, since that seems to be something a lot of parents want to know about — what types of foods, what the plate should look like.
Alex: What kind of plate?
Annika: I mean more the kind of foods — the pattern, the ratio of carbohydrates.
Ideal nutrition guidelines for kids with ADHD
Alex: Oh yes, okay. I don’t like parents to get too micromanage-y about calories or anything like that — more focus on variety. But it depends on the child too. For kids on appetite-suppressant ADHD medication, I always encourage prioritizing protein, fiber, and fat — things that give more bang for your buck with each bite, rather than trying to force kids to eat. We want to leverage their favorite foods too — it’s okay to have some carb-rich foods on their plate, but let’s make sure we’re adding protein and fiber so they’re really full. There’s also research into specific foods that may help, though nothing is a magic “you have to eat this.”
Annika: No — we have some interesting random studies, like one going on about kefir.
Alex: Okay.
Annika: It should be released hopefully by the end of the year — I’m assuming the probiotic angle is the main area they think might help.
Alex: Yeah.
Annika: And then there’s a study on a specific whey protein drink.
Alex: Okay.
Annika: It did help, but it might have just been because the kids were actually eating breakfast.
Alex: Yeah, there you go.
Annika: So it’s definitely about the overall dietary pattern.
Alex: And a lot of times parents think about what they need to eliminate to get rid of ADHD — which isn’t a thing. We don’t get rid of ADHD, but we can manage symptoms. I try to separate “ADHD” from “how food solves problems,” and instead ask: how can I set my child up for success and energy throughout the day? What can I add in? I’m a big advocate for nutrition by addition. Most Americans, kids included, aren’t eating enough fruits and vegetables — something like 90% of us — so there’s a huge opportunity there for vitamins and minerals, whichever ones your kids will actually eat. Omega-3s are great too — will they solve all our ADHD problems? Absolutely not. Can they help? Maybe. I don’t like getting too narrow-minded about what needs to be on a child’s plate, because every family is different in what they’re choosing.
Annika: I love that, because that’s exactly my approach with adults — don’t micromanage your plate, just do your best, focus on what you can actually eat, and try to get variety.
Alex: Well, yeah. I have content out there like, “what’s the best nutrition for your kids? The nutrition they’ll actually eat.” There are all these healthy options, and I eat more whole foods, that’s great — but what if my kids won’t eat that, or I can’t afford it, or I don’t even like it? What they’ll eat is what’s most important, especially for kids with ADHD. I’d love to focus more on fruits and vegetables with my daughter sometimes, but at the end of the day — I just want calories. It depends on your child and their situation.
Annika: Right — where’s their weight? Is that in jeopardy?
Alex: Yeah, it’s definitely multifactorial, complex, and individualized.
Annika: I did hear that kids tend to need more carbohydrates than adults — is that true?
Alex: Yeah — they’re growing a lot more, and carbohydrates are our body’s main energy source; they tend to be busier than adults. So there’s some truth to that, but again we don’t want to overload — I think in general our body should be around 60% carbohydrates or so. But when people think of carbs, they think chips, cookies, crackers, cereal. Carbs are in fruit, which is beneficial with the fiber; they’re in vegetables — really everywhere except fats and whole protein products. They’re unavoidable and not great to avoid completely. Kids gravitate toward the processed forms because they’re highly palatable and easier to eat, and consistent — take a blueberry: it’s never quite the same, some are firmer or sweeter than others. A cracker from the same box tastes the same every time. For some kids, that consistency is a big reason for aversions to some foods and preference for others.
Annika: And that’s where processed foods can be a better decision for your kid — like freeze-dried or frozen fruit.
Alex: Yes — I tell parents it’s okay to lean on those. It doesn’t always have to be fresh, and it definitely doesn’t always have to be organic. Choose what works for your family. Sometimes with fresh food there’s a lot of waste — I don’t know how many bags of spinach I’ve thrown away.
Annika: So I feel like another aspect here is protein shakes — whether they’re necessary or not.
Alex: Yeah.
Annika: Because a lot of parents I’ve talked to are kind of afraid of using them.
Alex: Sure, I get that totally.
Annika: But it also feels like a great way to get them nutrition, especially if they’re not hungry.
Alex: Exactly — and you have to find one you enjoy, because I’ve tried a lot that aren’t tasty, and find one your kids enjoy too. There’s a time and place for nutritional supplements, especially protein shakes. I think our society in general is hyped up on protein right now — protein is great to prioritize, it helps us feel full and lasts longer. But I’m always going to encourage food first; I get that sometimes we need something more convenient. I drink protein shakes myself in the morning when I’m not super hungry but don’t want to make a big meal. Nutritional supplements aren’t regulated, so there’s a safety consideration — families can look for third-party testing. It’s not a blanket “this is the best option,” just another tool for parents to consider. I actually have a whole blog post on protein shakes and supplements for kids. They can be useful, and can be expensive. There are different forms of protein too — vegetarian, whey, whey isolate. I’m not too worried about safety with one shake a day; the bigger issue is usually whether they’re getting enough calories overall. But I totally get parents questioning ingredients they can’t pronounce.
Annika: And that whole “not being able to pronounce it” thing — let’s talk about reading labels. How can a parent help their kid with ADHD read a label?
Alex: That depends on how old they are — I can’t say there’s an exact age, but when kids start to look at it themselves, that can be helpful. At the grocery store there are opportunities to start looking at things together.
Annika: Oh, actually I meant more as a parent, you’re looking at labels.
Alex: Oh — just for yourself?
Annika: For the kids
Alex: Good question. — I don’t really love getting into nutrition label reading with them. I go back to nutrition by addition — I prefer to look at what a food provides, rather than everything that’s “bad” about it. Our brains are probably wired to look at the challenges, the negative, the fear — but I ask, what does this food provide? It can be overwhelming to look at an ingredient list, and if that’s not something you want to get into, that’s fine — it doesn’t mean the food isn’t safe. Maybe look at other available options and their price, and whether you actually like those versions. That’s more important than what I’ve heard some parents say flat out in the grocery store: “Nope, we’re not getting that, that’s so bad for you, those are horrible.”
Annika: Yeah.
Alex: Let’s not use that language. I’ve heard parents do that, and instead I ask: what does this provide, how does it add value, is it a food I don’t love that my kid eats — what can I add to it? Fruits, vegetables, protein, nuts, seeds? Instead of focusing on what’s wrong with it — granola bars, for instance—
Annika: That’s a really great—
Alex: Kids love granola bars, and there are so many on the market. They tend to have a lot of added sugar, sometimes basically a dessert. I do look at added sugar, but also fat, protein, and fiber content. There’s more to consider than just “this has these ingredients” — what does the rest of their diet look like too? I look at what it provides, where the value is, and what I can add.
Annika: I love that, because that’s how I read labels too — honestly, I don’t read them often enough. I wish I did. I bought this juice once—
Alex: Yeah.
Annika: —and it was like 95% not juice. It literally tasted like hummingbird water.
Alex: Oh yeah, like Kool-Aid.
Annika: I should have checked the label — turns out it was about 100% of my daily added sugar in 8 ounces.
Alex: Yeah — ingredients and nutrition labels can be helpful to consider, but there shouldn’t be hard-and-fast rules unless medically necessary, like celiac disease or an allergy.
Annika: It seems so much better mentally to just look at protein, fiber, and added sugar.
Alex: Yeah. And the ability to pronounce an ingredient doesn’t determine how healthy it is — there are chemicals in everything, technically. That terminology and thought process around ingredient lists gets into the whole ultra-processed foods conversation, which is a different topic.
Annika: That sounds exhausting, honestly — I already have enough going on in my brain.
Alex: Right, and that’s kind of the whole elimination-diet conversation too — exhausting.
Annika: And for parents trying to manage life.
Alex: Any of my ADHD content, I always bring up elimination diets because parents ask about them. I don’t recommend them — they create a restrictive mindset around food, especially when kids are already struggling to eat enough on an appetite suppressant.
Annika: That’s literally what the research says — healthy diets are both more sustainable and more beneficial for the kid, and “healthy diet” just means following normal dietary patterns, which almost none of us actually follow.
Alex: Right. Going back to what we can add — I see a lot of social-media content about how highly processed foods are so bad for our kids. I don’t look at Cheetos and a grilled cheese as “bad” — I ask, what are we lacking that we can add? It’s not that the ingredients are damaging us so much as what we’re not getting enough of, because we’re eating those processed foods so often. When we talk about artificial colors, like Red Dye 40 — does research suggest it increases hyperactivity in some sensitive kids? Sure. But I also think about when we’re typically eating those foods, and what else is on the plate — is it just a cupcake, or chips at a birthday party with a lot of other stimulation going on? I’ll never tell a parent something doesn’t impact their child — parents are the expert on their child, but they may not be the expert of nutrition and nutrition science — so we have to be respectful of what parents choose to do.
Annika: Elimination diets…that’s hard — I think mentally, humans are wired to think in the negative. We assume removing something will make us feel better, when in reality, addition tends to work better — it’s like a positivity-negativity bias.
Alex: And there’s all the added stress, cost, and social situations you’re putting your kids in. There’s a lot more to consider that the research doesn’t fully address. I’ve even seen researchers themselves say elimination diets aren’t sustainable for parents long term — like weight loss, it’s difficult to maintain long term, and that’s what we need to think about long term for our kids. So yeah — not a fan.
Annika: Well, thank you so much — this is hopefully going to clear up a lot for parents and give them some hope that it’ll be okay, and that they have extra skills they can use, and hopefully encourage them to see an OT. I love OTs so much.
Alex: Oh my gosh, they’re– We need to utilize those experts more, and make them more accessible and affordable. That’s a huge barrier — something I’ve experienced myself. Focus on what you can add, where you can add value, where’s the positive. Help our kids engage with food, make meal times a good experience — they won’t all be good experiences, because it is stressful sometimes, and that’s okay to. Yes — manage your expectations, I’ve had to learn that too. One last takeaway for me: my daughter and I try to view our ADHD as superpowers. There are so many benefits to what our brains can do. Instead of focusing on the negative — trouble focusing, overwhelm, whatever it is — I try to focus on the positive aspect too.
Annika: It’s so easy for us to look at the negative.
Alex: It is.
Annika: But looking for the positive doesn’t mean being completely ignorant of the negative — it’s about acceptance.
Alex: Exactly.
Annika: All right — thank you so much again for chatting. Can you tell us how to find you, where to work with you?
Alex: I’m mostly on Instagram @TheFamilyNutritionist. My blog is myfamilynutritionist.com, but Instagram is usually where I hang out the most.
Annika: Perfect. Well, hopefully we’ll see you in person one day, since we live in the same state. Take care!
Alex: Thank you for having me.
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