Should You Let Your Child Go Hungry If They Refuse Dinner? The Nightmare of Food and Fussy Eaters

Not In Front Of The Kids

• Podcast Home
• Download Episode

Thursday, 9 July 2026 - 50 minutes

Nathan's clothes have been sat in the same pile for a week, the Kärcher is still blocking the kitchen, and apparently cleaning the car is now a love language. Is there really such a thing as men's jobs and women's jobs, or is someone just getting away with doing less? Then it's onto one of parenting's biggest battlegrounds – food. Should children eat what's put in front of them, or are parents making life harder by cooking three different dinners every night? Are fussy eaters born that way, or are they created? Is it cruel to send your child to school hungry because they refused breakfast, or is it teaching them a valuable lesson? Should dessert, screen time and PlayStation be used as bargaining chips? And if your child refuses dinner but asks for snacks an hour later… who's actually in charge? Nathan and Cara also debate whether family meals around the table are becoming a thing of the past, if screens should be banned at dinner, and whether parents put far too much pressure on themselves to feed their children the "perfect" diet. In The Courtroom this week, they tackle a parenting dilemma that divides almost everyone – is it ever okay to read your child's diary? Is it a huge breach of trust, or just part of keeping your child safe in a world that's scarier than ever? Dinner is about to be served… and someone definitely isn't eating it.

Subscribe to this podcast

• Apple Podcasts
• Apple Podcasts
• RSS Feed