Tiny's Big Debut! (aka: Nutritionists Love Tiny!)

Nutritionists from around the country just had their first chance to experience Tiny Tastes!

And this was actually my first experience setting up an exhibitors booth... we had a 10'x10' kitchenette in the exhibit hall, where hundreds of other companies were also doing demos, handing out free samples, and touting the health benefits of their products. Dietitians crowed through the aisles to learn about all the latest in food & nutrition products!

Our booth was in the California Fresh pavilion, since the Tiny Tastes app is often used by parents who want to help their children eat more healthy fruits & vegetables. The hundreds of dietitians who walked by were instantly captivated by the adorable Tiny! Even dietitians who don't work with children were still excited to learn about the app, whether for their own children who would have fun trying new healthy foods with Tiny, or to take back our information to share with the pediatric dietitians at their hospitals.

There are so many reasons why Tiny Tastes is a great fit for pediatric dietitians to use. 
For example:

1) In the hospital setting, lots of patients lose their appetite or are struggling to get in the mood to eat when they are feeling sad and lonely in a hospital bed. Dietitians, feeding therapists, and child life specialists have all been excited to share Tiny Tastes with their patients in order to encourage them to take in good nutrition during a time when this can be a struggle for a lot of kids. 

2) In the outpatient clinic setting, there are many dietitians and feeding therapists who wish that there was a way to help families implement their feeding recommendations at home. It's one thing for a parent to listen to what a medical provider says and agree that it sounds like a good idea... but it's a whole other challenge to make those changes at home and have their child follow through with them there. Tiny Tastes is neutral enough (and therefore widely-applicable enough) so that a medical provider can make almost any type of nutrition or feeding recommendation that is customized to their unique patient's needs, and Tiny can help the family follow through on it at home!

At the conference, we had lots of different types of dietitians share how they would use Tiny Tastes: (paraphrasing here)

-- I work with EoE patients who develop a fear of eating, after suffering with all the pain that was caused by the offending foods for so long... I could really see Tiny helping these kids have a positive experience with foods, and she could help reduce their fears about eating.

-- My specialty is childhood obesity. I would use the timer feature of the app and following the gradual emptying of Tiny's plate, to encourage these children to eat more slowly and mindfully along with Tiny instead of rushing through their meal. A lot of these kids eat so quickly that they aren't sensing their body's satiety signals. I would also want the app to take a picture of the vegetables on their plate, to show Tiny enjoying those veggies!

-- Many of my autistic (ASD) patients have a very limited diet. We never want to force anyone to try new foods, but at the same time these limitations can sometimes lead to nutritional inadequacy. So when I see this fun new tool that we can use to help these kids consider trying something new, I'm excited for my patients to watch Tiny to eat new foods and maybe inspire them to try something new too someday!

I could go on and on... it was so interesting to hear how all of their different types of patients could benefit from using this app. To learn more, you can check out the information we have for healthcare professionals on our website.

Visit us at www.tinytastesworld.com

Tiny Tastes Tour

Let's tour the wonderful world of Tiny Tastes!

First you can select Story Time to join Tiny on an adventure where she experiences all kinds of fun new things! It is a "choose your own adventure" story, with twists and turns, as well as customizable content as  children earn new clothes and things for Tiny to use in the story.

The app includes a story component to help draw children into Tiny's world... it forms an interest in what Tiny is doing and entices children to join her when she heads home at the end and is ready to eat. 

Children can skip the story though if you are short on time and want to go directly to "Let's eat!" or "Let's drink" to join Tiny for a meal or snack.

The drinking component was included since some children struggle more with drinking than with eating. Whether the goal is to finish a high calorie supplement-drink to help an underweight child gain weight well, or to have a child drink water or juice to help alleviate constipation, or otherwise... they can join Tiny while finishing their beverage.

The Tiny Shop contains all kinds of items that your child can buy for Tiny using the coins they earn while eating or drinking with her. We created a kitchen-item store, since we know that when children have more choices and control in the what and how they eat, they tend to be more invested in the eating process. The fun variety of spoons & bowls will offer them a lot of options during meals/snacks. 

There is also a Caregivers store, where parents/adults can buy app upgrades using real money too, if desired. We kept this department separate from the rest of the stores, so that the children's stores and the rest of the app can remain ad-free and child-friendly. The app upgrades will be super-fun though... this component of the app isn't activated yet, but will include additional story items, special features, new story-lines, and more fun things for Tiny to use in the app!

The Settings include all sorts of helpful features for parents, including reminders for meal/snack times (which can help the busy caregiver remember when it's time to offer food), sound options, and timer default settings. It also includes the tutorial as well as a place to leave feedback.

We welcome your comments, suggestions, and/or stories about how your family is using Tiny Tastes!

You can also visit us online to contact us with any thoughts or questions ~

Visit us at www.tinytastesworld.com

Tiny & Emily

Some may say that Emily Garber created the lovable new character, Tiny the Kangaroo, but Emily could say that Tiny has shaped her life as well. The two have been inseparable lately as they have worked together to help parents and children overcome difficulties with nutrition, eating, and drinking. Here's a peek:

TINY:  So Emily... would you have ever dreamed that your best nutrition partner would be a tiny kangaroo?

EMILY:  I would have never guessed that actually! I've always been interested in clinical research, medical nutrition therapy, and techniques to help people change their habits and point of view... all in an attempt to improve their nutritional quality of life, whatever that means for each family. I've spent years digging into books, internet, conferences, practice, etc. I was pleasantly surprised when I experienced you and your Tiny Tastes World! What a fun, non-threatening, non-judgmental, and easy to use approach which can really help children and families so much.

TINY:  Why do you think that kids like eating with me so much Emily? Am I just that charming? ;)

EMILY:  Well, you are adorable! I think it's also because kids in this generation are so used to watching cartoons and repeating the things that they see on shows, that their minds are really open to be influenced by these characters. There are many shows which already capitalize on the impact of media to help kids reach positive goals - such as Sesame Street for education, or cartoons and books that teach good values. Modern media has some type of strong, almost "magical" impact on children... and as we utilize this type of influence & appeal, I really see how you offer a unique type of way to reach kids that is pretty special! Studies already demonstrate that when parents and other children model healthy eating, kids are more likely to join along. But even though that concept was one inspiration for the app, the impact that Tiny can have seems to be quite unique and even different from that, overcoming long-standing barriers that parents haven't been able to address on their own.

TINY:  When did you start to want to help children with nutrition?

EMILY:  Well, I've always loved working with children, but it was during my time as a Clinical Dietitian at Seattle Children's Hospital that I started to think about what it might look like to have a tool that would make kids happy and have more fun trying new things, while at the same time it could help parents be less stressed when it came to feeding issues. It's one thing to tell a parent, "This is what your child should eat and how you can help them do it" but it's entirely different to actually have the child want to do so and for the parents not to lose heart. So, by the time I was working at Duke University Hospital in North Carolina, I was starting to develop this concept of an app that would improve a child's nutritional status as well as the enjoyment of their meals for both the children and their caregivers. 

TINY:  And that was me?

EMILY:  That was you! I collaborated with a team to create Tiny Tastes World for families to enjoy together.

TINY:  I LOVE my world! It is so much fun to leave my house every day and try new things. When children first walk through the story with me, I'm excited to have their company! But nothing makes me more excited than when I see a parent take a picture of a new food for me to eat. When they share their child's salad, beans, cauliflower, avocado... whatever it is, I'm eager to try anything!  And, of course, I love eating these foods right alongside a child who is willing to try them along with me.   

EMILY:  That's fantastic! I've seen children really open up when you show them that trying something new can be enjoyable. Some of the kids I've worked with have fears about tasting new foods... I've heard that when they see you eating the food it helps make them less nervous and they are more likely to taste some after they see you eat it too (even if it takes a few times of first just watching you enjoy it). Your adventuresome eating can be really inspiring, Tiny!  

TINY:  Do you think you'll create new things for me to do in the future, Emily?

EMILY:  Absolutely! We just launched the app and are encouraging people to try Tiny Tastes in its most simplest form, but we have big plans for you, Tiny.

TINY:  You do? Like what?

EMILY:  Like having you available on every mobile platform before the end of 2014, and then giving you more options throughout the story and new items to purchase with the coins that children can earn by tasting things. I'm also really excited about the fact that we are developing a clinical side to your world.

TINY:  Clinical? Do you mean I will be going into clinics?

EMILY:  Yes, you are going to get to meet lots of wonderful people there! The clinical version called Tiny Tastes PRO will be used by Registered Dietitians, feeding therapists, and doctors so that more parents and kids can learn about how fun and easy you can make their lives through your feeding support and automated VISUAL diet records! You will get to help feeding professionals track a child's progress over time, to see which foods a child is still struggling to eat and which types of food textures/colors they are making progress with. Also, they can view before & after pictures of a child's intake so that parents don't need to keep track of diet history in paper & pencil diet-logs... their diet info will all be effortlessly imported to a secure online web portal.

TINY:  That sounds awesome! How will people know when app updates and new products are available?

EMILY:  They can always check here on our blog, but also they should visit our website and our social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram  

Are you ready to start helping a lot of kids, Tiny?

TINY:  I'm definitely ready to meet some new friends!

Tiny Tastes app is available TODAY on iPad and iPad Mini.  More platforms coming soon!  

Visit us at www.tinytastesworld.com

There's an app for that!

 

As of this year, there are over 3 million apps available on the app stores. (1)

There's practically an app for everything now!

As a Registered Dietitian at Duke I had the privilege to work with a group of doctors to develop a diabetes care app. Through that app development experience, I was totally inspired to create something that is very relevant to my own area of expertise: childhood nutrition.

I had spent years learning about "balanced nutrition", "medical nutrition therapy", "motivational interviewing to support behavior change", and "division of responsibility to address feeding struggles" ... all of which have contributed strongly to my nutrition practice. 

However, I was continuously faced with feedback from parents that their children wouldn't want to follow through with nutrition recommendations at home. It wasn't as easy as just explaining what to do, or knowing effective ways to handle a situation, or how to prepare healthy foods in a tasty way... no, the struggle went beyond these cerebral-topics. Parents were trying their very best and yet finding that their children still wouldn't want to eat a balanced meal or participate in the nutrition plan that was recommended by their medical team. And of course a child's dietary intake is ultimately up to them! A caregiver's job is to provide good food/drink options, and it is the child's choice to eat/drink what is offered or not. So instead of forcing anyone to do something they don't want to, I wanted to figure out a way to inspire kids to WANT to eat healthfully! (Which of course can mean something different for everyone - Tiny Tastes doesn't endorse any specific dietary plan, but is meant to be used with a parent's discretion as a tool to promote positive food experiences.)

Parents work so hard to take care of their families. Face lots of challenges.
So I wanted to create something that would help make their job easier, and also bring some positivity to a situation that can sometimes be a struggle for families. 

I designed Tiny Tastes to be a useful real-world tool for parents and caregivers to use with children at home, to help introduce new healthy foods and/or to increase a child's interest in following through with feeding recommendations from their medical team. 

Tiny Tastes can be useful for the typical child who just needs a little extra incentive to taste new fruits & veggies, or the more selective eater who is hesitant to try new foods in general... as well as for children with more specific medical nutrition therapy needs. 


For more information about using the app, please visit our website to learn about the variety of children who could benefit from Tiny Tastes. We are almost finished with app development, so stay tuned for the big announcement!


(1) http://www.statista.com/statistics/276623/number-of-apps-available-in-leading-app-stores/