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
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