From First Foods to Family Meals

I've been a pediatric PA for over 10 years, and one thing I've learned in pediatrics is that feeding kids is hard, and it's rarely about just needing more information and knowing what's healthy. Parents usually know that they should offer fruits, vegetables, and balanced meals. The challenge is figuring out how to make that happen in the middle of busy schedules, picky eating, sports practices, and the very different appetites of everyone sitting around the table. Welcome back to the Exam Room Nutrition Podcast. I'm your host, Colleen Sloan. I'm a physician assistant and registered dietitian, and this is the final episode in our special four-part series called Avocados in Practice. Thank you so much to Avocados Loved One Today for sponsoring this series as we've explored emerging nutrition research and practical nutrition strategies you can use with your patients. In today's episode, we're shifting our focus into family nutrition. Joining me again is Patricia Bannon, a registered dietitian, nutrition expert, and mom to talk about the nutrients families commonly fall short on, what we know about nutrition during pregnancy and infancy, practical feeding strategies for busy families, and how we can help parents raise healthy eaters without becoming short-order cooks. Patricia, my favorite topic. I'm so excited to talk to you about this. Welcome back to the podcast. Thanks. Great to be back. My favorite topic too. And it's great to talk to you about it as the expert. All right. So when we talk about family nutrition, what are some of the nutrients that families and kids are most commonly missing? And why should we, as their clinician or healthcare provider, prioritize them?

Right. Well, some common nutrient shortfalls in the US diet include calcium, fiber, potassium, and vitamin D. And these needs and priorities are going to change across pregnancy, infancy, childhood, and adolescence. And we also know, as you said in the intro, you know, many children aren't getting enough fruits and vegetables, and that can decline with age. So as adults, we're not either. And at the same time, we're getting too much saturated fat and added sugars in the diet. We're exceeding the recommendations. So avocados can really address several of these needs because they provide nearly 20 vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, including fiber, folate, and unsaturated fats.

You know, it's funny, you mentioned that kids aren't always meeting their fruits and vegetable needs. And parents are very quick to say, oh, yep, he doesn't eat any vegetables. And I love it because I actually flip it back on the parent and I say, Well, do you eat your vegetables? And the kids love it because they get to kind of point the finger back at them. Now mom or dad is in a hot seat too. So I think it really, when we talk about family nutrition, it is just that. It should be all about the family. And as parents, we do need to model that behavior for them. But I want to start our conversation sort of at the beginning of family nutrition, and that's the maternal diet and maternal health. And there's a growing interest in how mom's diet might influence the child's long-term health. So, what do we currently know about the relationship between nutrition during pregnancy and infant or childhood outcomes?

Yes, well, we know that maternal nutrition supports fetal growth and brain and eye development and can help shape a child's long-term health. And key nutrients include what I just mentioned, you know, folate, healthy unsaturated fats, also lutein and zeoxanthin, vitamin A and choline. And avocados provide several of these nutrients in one food. There's also a really cool study I want to share here. And this is supported by the Avocado Nutrition Center. And in a 2025 observational study published in pediatric research, and it showed that infants and mothers who consumed avocado during pregnancy had 44% lower odds of food allergies after 12 months. Now, these results can't be generalized to a larger, more diverse population, but also shows an association, not a cause and effect. So I think avocados are really best positioned here as a nutrient-dense part of a varied maternal diet.

Yeah, and I really love one aspect of avocados here, and that's the amount of lutein that it provides. It gives about 136 micrograms. And this nutrient is super important for the baby's eye development, especially in that third trimester. So moms are usually really in tune and very interested about what foods they can eat to promote a healthy pregnancy. And avocados is one of my favorites to recommend. Okay, so let's talk about once baby arrives. This is my favorite part because I get to snuggle up to all these cute babies in clinic. And one of the first questions that parents often ask is about complementary feeding and those first foods. So let's unpack what characteristics make a great option for infants' starting solids.

Yeah, so first foods. You know, I think three main characteristics are really important. And that's nutrient density. It's also developmentally appropriate texture for the child and a mild or neutral flavor. So when we're talking about nutrient density for those first foods, you know, it meets the infant's high needs for energy, healthy fats, protein, vitamins, and minerals during this really rapid growth, right? And then the texture should be soft and safe, such as creamy, tender, pureeed, mashed, or ground. And then it progresses as the baby's skills progress. And that mild neutral flavor is also important. Offering foods that aren't just sweet can help the babies become more familiar with a wider range of flavors. So avocados check all three of these boxes, Colleen, because they're nutrient dense. They have a smooth texture and they have a neutral flavor that can be pureeed, mashed, sliced, or cubed as developmentally appropriate.

All right, let's move on development a little bit. We've talked about maternal health and pregnancy. We've talked about kind of that infancy stage. Let's talk about, I think, probably the most stressful aspect of parenting, and that's this like school age time, because life is busy and dinner time tends to be really, really uh stressful and overwhelming. And this is usually when kids start to get more selective and maybe even make their own food choices. So, what are some of your go-to strategies as a dietitian and busy mom yourself?

Yeah, so some of my go-to strategies. So today is my nine-year-old daughter's first day back at school. So we're shifting back into that routine and how we're gonna get dinner on the table. And so one thing is I like to try and lower the pressure and focus on repeated exposure. And I know this can get exhausting when you're constantly repeating things, but you know you're the expert. It can take up to 10 times, right? Of repeated exposure for a child to try something or to realize that they like it. The other thing is making it a family affair, right? Um, and finding those foods that are a quick win that you already know the kids are gonna like and then building the meal around that. So maybe it's rice, chicken, avocado, you know, starting with that, and then maybe adding a few different things that other people in the family might like or they might be willing to try and eventually see if they like it. You mentioned one of the most powerful things earlier, which is modeling, right? Are we as parents doing it? And that really plays into, you know, the influence that we're putting on the table in terms of what we're eating. And snacking can be a great option as well because it kind of lowers the pressure, it allows an opportunity to try out different foods. And the great thing about avocados and why I often recommend them is because they they come in so many familiar forms and they can be developmentally appropriate, as we talked about. You know, guacamole, smoothies, scrambled eggs, pasta sauces, baby mashes are great, such as an avocado and sweet potato mash. And you can also freeze them, right? When you have too many avocados getting ripe at the same time, many people don't realize you can freeze them. And I believe in the show notes there's a guide on how you can freeze them. And that's a great way to add them to those purees, to those smoothies, to those baby mashes.

And freezing them, I mean, avocados are already creamy and a smoothie, but freezing them just takes it to another level because then you don't even have to use ice, and it is delicious. Now, I want to talk about something that a lot of families are navigating, and that is like different palettes and different dietary patterns that a family might be consuming. So I'm thinking of a family who maybe the dad is an athlete, so he's eating differently. Maybe the mom is on her own weight loss journey, so she might be eating differently. We've got a toddler who's going through their very selective independent phase, and a teenager who grunts at you from their bedroom. And so it feels like you have to cook separate meals for everyone in the family. But I would love if you can give us some ideas and how we can create family meals that meet the needs of different ages and stages of life without becoming a short order cook.

Yes, so important. It takes so much effort just to get dinner on the table. We don't want to put five different dinners on the table, right? So flexible family meals, I think, are great that build your own approach can be really fun. Even if you just do this a few times a week, like having pizza night where you add your own toppings or taco bowls or grain bowls. You know, pasta dishes are great with this, especially with younger kids, because they can enjoy that. And then what you put on it can be a little bit more customized to that family member, what they prefer. You know, adjusting the texture, the spice level, the toppings can help change it up rather than changing the entire menu. And that flexibility is one reason I often go to avocados because it can work across multiple ages and stages without requiring parents to prepare separate foods. So avocados is a good example. They're mashed for baby, as we talked about, sliced for a toddler, and added to tacos or bowls for children and adults.

Patricia, this is such helpful advice for all my overwhelmed, stressed-out parents trying to get dinner on the table. You've really kind of taken that burden away from them. And I really appreciate you sharing all these insights. But thank you so much for joining me on this entire mini-series. I've really learned so much from you. Thank you so much for having me. It has been wonderful. And thank you so much to Avocados Love One Today for sponsoring Avocados in Practice. I hope you'll go back and catch any episodes that you missed, and be sure to check the show notes for helpful resources. And I'll be back next week with another episode of the Exam Room Nutrition Podcast.