Paediatric Dietetics
The Therapy Place offers a full nutrition support service with Accredited Practicing Dietitians (APD’s) who have skills and expertise in paediatric nutrition.
Our Paediatric Dietitians manage a range of conditions that affect infants, children and adolescents including, but not limited to:
- Poor growth and faltering weight
- Healthy growth establishment
- Infant feeding (e.g. introduction of solids)
- Fussy eating
- Behavioural conditions (e.g., Autism and ADHD)
- Gastrointestinal conditions (e.g. coeliac disease, diarrhoea/constipation)
- Food sensitivities, intolerances and allergies
- Tube feeding management and tube weaning
- Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
- Clinical conditions requiring specialised diets (e.g. diabetes)
- Weight management
- Family nutrition education
- Body image education
- Diet/Menu planning activities
Nutrition Assessment
A typical initial appointment will involve one of our Paediatric Dietitian’s assessing your child’s growth, current dietary intake and eating patterns, their medical and feeding history (including gut health), as well as sleeping and toileting patterns. This assessment also includes a nutritional analysis as below with verbal feedback.
Together, you will then develop goals and a management plan for your child’s nutrition therapy, aiming to achieve optimal health outcomes. Your child’s progress will be monitored at each therapy session.
Nutrition therapy can also take the form of family nutrition education, teen cooking therapy, body image education, diet/menu planning activities and family style meal therapy.
Nutrition Analysis
Many parents worry about whether their child is getting the optimal nutrition for healthy growth and development. Healthy eating guidelines and feeding advice can be confusing and information sources such as social media can present conflicting messages. At The Therapy Place we understand that parents need peace of mind and reassurance.
Our Paediatric Dietitians offer a remote dietary analysis service for busy families who would like to identify possible gaps in their child’s diet.
You will receive a nutrition assessment package, which includes a 5-day food diary and feeding history questionnaire (including growth data). Once the completed nutrition assessment has been returned, an analysis and initial recommendations will be emailed back within 2 weeks.
This contactless service is claimable under NDIS.
Poor growth and faltering weight
A Dietitian can help identify what is contributing to these problems and give you practical strategies to assist your child in regaining growth and weight.
Healthy growth establishment
We know the importance of eating regularly, enough and not too much. We support children to reach their full growth and development potential.
Infant feeding (e.g. introduction of solids)
It can be overwhelming when your little one is having issues with feeding (be it breast or bottle) and when introducing them to solid foods, we’re here to help!
Fussy Eating
Although it is part of normal development for children to go through fussy eating stages, some children can become very restricted with what they will eat. Our Dietitians use a family centred responsive feeding approach to determine the causes and factors contributing to fussy eating.
Behavioural conditions (e.g., Autism and ADHD)
80% of children with developmental difficulties have problems with food and eating. We make food fun and teach turning mealtimes into a positive and calm environment.
Food sensitivities, intolerances and allergies
Dietitians can assist in the diagnosis and management of these issues and identify food alternatives to ensure a nutritionally adequate diet and enjoyment of food.
Tube feeding management and tube weaning
We can help you manage all aspects of your child’s tube feeding (e.g., NGT, PEG) and guide you through solid food introduction and tube weaning in a safe way.
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
An eating disorder defined by an avoidance and aversion to foods and eating. It occurs due to anxiety or a fear of foods and/or eating, sensory sensitivities and/or a lack of interest in food. Our Dietitians are grounded in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for ARFID (CBT-AR) approach to guide you and your child through treatment.
Clinical conditions requiring specialised diets (e.g., diabetes, epilepsy, coeliac disease, diarrhoea/constipation, EoE, IBS)
We can help you and your child manage their condition and symptoms through dietary changes and practical strategies in collaboration with your existing medical team.
Weight Management
Here at The Therapy Place, our Dietitians follow a Non-Diet Approach (NDA) to weight management. We focus on intuitive eating, movement for enjoyment, developing a positive body image and teaching healthy eating habits.
Family nutrition education
We help families understand nutrition and overhaul their eating patterns to help sustain a healthy eating pattern and relationship with food for life.
Body image education
Developing a positive body image and resilience to diet culture, especially in the age of social media, is important to ensure your child develops a healthy relationship with themselves and food.
Diet/Menu planning activities
We can use these activities to help with managing multiple food sensitivities, fussy eaters or specific clinical conditions.