Kidzy is based in Ottawa and works with families across Canada, and after a while the same handful of questions come round again. Here they are, with the short answers — because most of what helps is not complicated, it is just rarely said plainly.
“My child eats four foods. Is that normal?”
For a lot of children between two and seven, yes. It has a name — food neophobia — and it is a developmental stage rather than a parenting failure. It usually widens again, and it widens faster when nobody is fighting about it.
What we wish parents knew sooner: the narrowing gets worse when a separate meal appears. One family meal, with at least one thing on the table they reliably accept, keeps the door open.
“Should I hide vegetables in the sauce?”
No. It works once, and the cost is that food from your kitchen becomes something to be suspicious of. Serve the vegetable where it can be seen, keep serving it after it is refused, and say nothing about it.
“How do I stop the constant snacking?”
Give snacks a time and a place rather than a rule. Two set snack times at the table, water in between. Grazing is what kills appetite for dinner, and dinner is where most of the variety lives.
“Do I have to cook differently from how I grew up?”
Absolutely not, and this is the one we most want families to hear. Your food traditions are the strongest asset you have — they come with repetition, family and meaning. Serve the food you actually cook, deconstructed if it helps, and add heat at the table rather than in the pot.
“What about screens?”
The useful question is when, not how many hours. Screens at the table replace conversation; screens in the hour before bed replace sleep. Fix those two and the total tends to sort itself out.
“Is my child getting enough exercise?”
The Canadian guideline is 60 minutes a day for ages 5 to 17, and it counts walking, playground time and a fifteen-minute session at home. Treat it as a weekly average rather than a daily exam and it stops being intimidating.
“When should I ask for help?”
When the accepted food list is shrinking rather than holding steady, when eating causes real distress in the house, when swallowing hurts or causes gagging, or when a child’s growth has come off their curve. None of those mean something has gone wrong — they mean another pair of eyes helps.
The thing underneath all of it
Almost every question above has the same answer in different clothing: reduce the pressure, keep offering, and change one thing at a time. Families who arrive expecting a strict plan are often surprised that the advice is to do less, more consistently.
If you would like that applied to your own family rather than read in general, tell us a bit about them — it takes about two minutes, and there is no cost to asking.