Motivating Mealtimes

What is it?

Motivating Mealtimes is an evaluation of children with feeding difficulties that aims to identify any areas of concern that may be impacting each child's ability to learn to eat.

The program serves children with feeding difficulties and their families by offering a comprehensive approach to identify and treat the specific areas of difficulty that impact each child's ability to eat. The team uses a play-based and child-led approach that is focused on the child's development of the skills required for eating. We want children to learn how to eat and to have fun while doing it.

Who can benefit from an evaluation?

Children who exhibit one or more of the following:

• Difficulty eating a variety of food
• Difficulty eating textures or foods from each food group
• Refusal of entire categories of nutrition groups or food textures
• Dropping foods out of the child’s diet that were previously preferred
• Eating different foods at mealtimes than the rest of the family
• Difficulty drinking from a cup and/or a bottle
• Limited ability to self-feed
• Difficulty chewing foods
• Difficulty swallowing foods (dysphagia)
• Sensory processing difficulties relating to feeding
• Dependence on supplemental tube feedings for nutrition
• Failure to thrive, slow weight gain, or weight loss
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Fear or anxiety related to foods or eating
• Frequent mealtime tantrums

Who is on the team?

• Speech-language pathologist (SLP)
• Occupational therapist (OT)
• Registered dietitian (RD)
• Pediatric psychologist
• Social worker

What does the evaluation involve?

• In-person interview with members of the feeding team
• Screening of your child's developmental skills
• Observation of your child during mealtime to assess multiple areas
• Expect the evaluation to last approximately 2 hours

Resources

•  New Patient Paperwork (English| Spanish) (Rev. 09/25)
•  Motivating Mealtimes Physician Referral (Form #32467, Rev 9/25)
•  Download the Brochure (Form #32353, Rev 10/25)