Food Guides. Picky eaters. Obesity. Malnutrition. In the current era of anxiety and hype over how we feed children, Small Bites challenges us to rethink preconceptions about the biological basis of children's eating habits, gendered and parent-focused responsibility, and the notion of naturally determined children's foods. Tina Moffat undertakes a holistic examination of the evolutionary, historical, and biocultural foundations of children's food and nutrition. She weaves anthropological research from around the globe into an assessment of contemporary pediatric dilemmas, and covers developmental stages from conception through adolescence. The biological and sociocultural determinants of child nutrition and feeding are framed in terms of key questions: Are children naturally picky eaters? How can school meal programs help to address food insecurity and malnutrition? How has the industrial food system commodified children's food and shaped children's bodies? Small Bites investigates how children are fed in school and at home in Nepal, France, Japan, Canada, and the United States to reveal the ways in which child nutrition reflects broader cultural approaches to childhood and food.

In the process, this important work sets a course for food policy, schools, communities, and caregivers to improve children's food and nutrition equitably and sustainably.