2025 brought its share of uncertainty across the nonprofit, healthcare, and research worlds. Families felt the weight of rising costs, clinicians navigated complex, fragmented systems, and funding shifted in unexpected ways. Some days, it truly felt like the ground was moving beneath our feet. But through it all, something powerful never wavered: our community. You showed up with heart, persistence, and hope, again and again. As the year comes to a close, we celebrate what the Feeding Matters community made possible together: a story of resilience, connection, and real progress.

Reconnecting in Person: A Global Start to the Year
2025 began with our first in-person International PFD Conference since 2019. With more than 250 attendees present, several powerful themes emerged: the urgency of early screening, the importance of aligned language across disciplines, and the critical role of mental health and family-centered care. The learning extended around the world with more than 900 participants joining virtually from over 45 countries, making this truly a global moment for feeding care.

In My Own Way: A Book That Reframes Feeding Differences
This year we released a children’s book, In My Own Way, which follows the feeding journey of a young boy named Ollie. One parent shared that her son’s preschool class now reads the book weekly. When her son takes longer to finish a meal, his classmates gently say, “That’s okay, Ollie does it in his own way too.” Get your copy of the book here!

The Family First Empowerment Cohort
With support from critical grant funding, we launched the Family First Empowerment Cohort: a new program designed for caregivers stuck on long waitlists with nowhere to turn. During the pilot, families explored their feeding journeys, the trauma accumulated along the way, and the skills needed to advocate with confidence. This work is only just beginning. In 2026, we will expand this program to reach even more families who need support and community.

Growing our Reach: PFD & ARFID Awareness Month
This year’s PFD & ARFID Awareness Month reached all 50 states and 40+ countries through live conversations, global campaigns, and calls to get informed, get deep, get loud, and get local. Awareness creates momentum; this year, that momentum was felt around the world.

Understanding Barriers in the Real World
This year, we completed a multi-month project examining how PFD evaluations, referrals, and insurance actually unfold in pediatric care. The findings were sobering: many pediatricians remain hesitant to screen for feeding disorders or misunderstand the role they can play. While difficult, this insight was essential and strengthened our resolve to advocate for earlier identification and better care pathways.

Education for Primary Care Providers
Our Physician Outreach Project partnered with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to develop six PFD educational modules for primary care providers. After viewing the modules, one resident shared that they would never have thought to ask about the effort behind weight gain, a powerful reminder that mindset shifts at the earliest point of care can change everything.

Community, Collaboration, and Big Ideas
These are just a few of many accomplishments this year. We also raised critical funds at our signature fundraiser, Feed the Cause. Our Community Councils expanded across Arizona, Georgia, Texas, Wisconsin, Washington, and New York. Our multi-year documentary project completed filming and prepares for screenings in 2026. The 2025 Feeding & Eating Psychology Summit brought together cross-disciplinary leaders to explore psychological interventions across the lifespan. We are in the early stages of collaborating with medical schools in Arizona to incorporate information on PFD into their curriculum. Behind the scenes, Feeding Matters also achieved a clean financial audit, earned a Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency, and secured Board representation across five states.

Looking Ahead
As we look ahead to 2026, we do so grounded in what this community has already proven: progress is possible when families, clinicians, and advocates move forward together. There is still work to be done, but there is also momentum and shared purpose. Thank you for being part of this journey and for continuing to show up with courage and care. Together, we will keep pushing for a world where every child with a feeding disorder able to thrive.