Customer Reviews
Here's the deal... 
2008-07-30
So I've decided that I should also put my two cents worth in regarding the book and other comments here. This is Alicia, and yes, my son Ewan is mentioned in the book under the Special Needs section.
First off, is this book for everyone? Maybe not, no book, no theory, no treatment plan out there is for absolutely everybody. But give it a shot if you've got a child that is a picky eater or problem eater, it's 12 bucks that could change your life. Secondly, keep your mind open. If your mind is already closed to new ideas and new ways of doing things it's hard to help anyone, including your child.
Third, the whole 'encourages a child to eat junk food' notion is off base. The problem stems from the fact that these children have ALREADY self limited their foods to the, let's say, not the healthiest foods on the market. That's why many of the chains focus on moving from McNuggets and 'junk' food that someone else mentioned. My son was one of these children that the only 'meat' he would accept was a chicken McNugget--hence our chain started from there and grew. He now eats a variety of meats but in all honesty, he's not a real big meat lover, he eats some but not all meats...it's just not his 'thing'.
As for the moving from junk food to broccoli and healthy foods idea--you bet your behind my son did that. He is living proof that food chaining took him from pop-tarts, McNuggets, popcorn, and chips to eating foods like raw spinach leaves, broccoli, salsa, green peppers, cabbage, lettuce, blueberries, strawberries, cherries, apples, oranges, pineapple...well you get the point, a very healthy diet. I'd match my son's diet now up against the healthiest of stone age diets out there!
How in the name of all that is holy did that happen? Well, first this team actually looked at my son with open eyes and found an underlying medical problem called Eosinophilic Esophagitis that had been making eating a painful experience for him. So please don't scoff when you say, oh this is only for kids that are obviously really sick...some underlying problems are very hidden and can be a factor in why child is limiting their food intake. My son was one of those children that looked healthy and no one would have guessed that was going on.
Now let me also say that when you order this book you do not also get a complimentary magic wand in the mail. There is NO magic wand that transforms your child from a picky or problem eater into this kid like "Mikey" from the commercials that will eat anything. A good thing to keep in mind is that we ALL have foods we DON'T like! Food chaining, or any treatment plan for tackling these type of eating / feeding issues, takes time. It takes time, patience, understanding, and knowledge of how we eat and how we discover new foods and new tastes. Food chaining can be fun and exciting if you let it, if you open your mind to food, tastes, eating, and new experiences.
So I encourage those of you struggling with feeding and eating issues to give this book a good chance and read it. It's very user friendly with lots of terms and descriptions spelled out and is a very systematic way of looking at the problem!
Alicia
Please read 2008-07-30
Hi All. I rated our work for the effort that went into it. Ha. It would not let me not rate it. This is Cheri Fraker, one of the team of authors of the book. I have been asked to comment by several parents about some of the reviews. Thank you everyone who commented for sharing your thoughts. As part of the medical feeding team of authors who wrote the book and the parent of a child with cyclic vomiting syndrome, I feel the need to tell you that every day in my practice I find typical kids with underlying medical issues such as swallowing problems, esophagitis, eosinophilic esophagitis and milk protein allergy. I find attentive, concerned parents searching for answers, just as I did, before Dr. Fishbein saved my son after six years of searching for answers. I know the desperation parents feel as I have been there. The chapters are written by 4 different authors (peds GI, dietitian, OT, speech therapy, etc) telling you from their perspective what they look for and how to evaluate both infants and children before moving to food chaining. Those 5 steps help you feel confident about moving on to expanding foods. We never said anything was easy and we never said you jump from chicken nuggets to vegetables, please don't set yourself up for disappointment, but we have achieved moving kids who ate 2 foods to 150, in time, teaching children about food and health and nutrition and working as a team. We would never tell a family who had a child who ate healthy foods to go to junk food or food of lower nutritional value. We just use the foods a child eats to expand to a healthier diet.
OK if your child is an extremely picky eater 
2008-07-20
My 5 year old son is a picky eater but he's not as picky as the children in Food Chaining. There were a few things that I can take from this book. I can certainly think about better scheduling of his meals and snack times. I can get a better feel for the types of foods he likes and use that to expand his choices but that's about it.
I found myself skipping large portions of the book because it didn't apply to our situation. There's a lot of focus on underlying problems causing some kind of problem but my child doesn't have any of those issues. Even narrowing it down to a specific type of food isn't that helpful because he's got foods that he'll eat at his grandmother's house but won't touch here and vice versa.
There's also a lot of focus on babies and toddlers. My son was an excellent eater until he was about 3. Then he just started deciding he didn't like things. His diet had dropped down to just whole wheat bread and water but we were able to work it back up to be better balanced. When he started dropping out foods again I thought I'd try to find a way to stop the behaviour before he dropped too many. This book won't help me do that.
I also didn't like the focus on junk food. I don't want to introduce him to unhealthy food to get him to eat healthy food. I was hoping there'd be better advice on how to get fruits, vegetables and meats into his diet but he doesn't like McDonald's Chicken McNuggets and I'm fine with that.
I would've liked more food chain examples for more varieties of food. A better description of their food "types" so that I could figure out if it's a taste thing with him or something else. All in all I'm a little disappointed.
Raising your kid to enjoy an all-American diet? 
2008-07-09
I bought this book because our daughter (2) refuses to eat fruits and only accepts a very limited number of vegetables, namely legumes (lentils, chick peas, yellow split peas, black beans, pinto beans), red beets, potatoes, and spinach. She also eats chicken, beef, fish, and eggs. Other foods like yogurt, bananas, or apple sauce have fallen out of grace and though we keep offering them to her she refuses to even try them. After I read a rave-review of this book I bought it and quite frankly I have very mixed feelings about the book.
For one, the book's basic principle of focusing on foods your kid likes and then slowly modifying them to include slightly different textures and flavors makes sense. What I take issue with, however, is the fact that the book focuses on extending a child's exposure to junk food. One of the suggestions the book makes is to start with McDonald's chicken nuggets, progress to all brands of chicken nuggets you can get a hold of, then offer breaded cooked vegetables and finally, voila, present steamed vegetables. While a kid would probably accept various kinds of chicken nuggets I am pretty sure that the step to steamed veggies is not as easy as the author wants to make us believe. I'm certain that my two-year-old would already consider the breaded veggies as an insult on her intelligence. We do not eat processed or restaurant foods, let alone junk food like McDonald's and I am not planning to change anything about that. Quite contrary, I'd be afraid that I open Pandora's box by introducing her to these foods. For parents who have no problem with feeding their kids this kind of food the book's approach might work but in our case it appears a bit more tricky. How exactly am I to manipulate red beets to be anything but red beets?
Secondly, the book is fear-mongering because a huge portion of it focuses on some "hidden" medical or behavioral problem even the most attentive and educated parent or pediatrician might have missed. I am sure there are kids out there that have medical or behavior problems but I am also sure that the parents of these kids are already aware that something might be "wrong" with their child. For parents who are confident in their kids' health this is not the right book. For parents who know their kid has health issues and they are in search of resources this book might be helpful.
Finally, I did not like that the book did not really distinguish between different age groups of children. Some passages highlighted typical problems with infants, some focused on teenager, some on toddlers. But the information was all over the place. And a lot of strategies that might work with teenagers are completely useless with a toddler.
So, I only give this book two stars and recommend to take the advice given in the book with a grain of salt.
A must have if your child struggles at meals! 2007-11-02
I must first say that I am the mother of a little boy that has struggled with eating since the age of 1 (he's now 3 1/2). I must also say that the feeding team that wrote this book helped us when no one else would or could. We owe them so much...thank you!
If your child struggles with mealtime...this is the only book you need! It's fabulous! It's easy to read and written for parents to understand.
I love the short stories in the book because they help the parent realize that they are not the only ones struggling with this issue. There are also great "Did You Know" sections every couple of pages that give great advice and tips. Also, the authors have provided a glossary in the book to outline the terms/conditions that you may not be familiar with.
Lastly, they have given so many example diagrams of food chaining, a process developed by author Cheri Fraker, that tells the parent exactly where to start and where to go next with the foods that your child will eat.
Dealing with eating difficulties is challenging and it's easy to get off track...I'm so glad that I purchased this book because it's a great guide to have on hand and to keep you focused on what to do and what not to do, whether you are just starting out with food chaining or whether you're an "ol' pro!"
Kudos to you all! Fantastic book!
