What is Dietetics?
Dietitians are experts in food and nutrition.
They provide guidance about how to appropriately manage diets and nutrition for kids and adults.
How our Dietitian can support you and your child:
Nutritional Guidance for Growth and Development
Childhood is a critical period of growth and development, and nutrition plays a key role in supporting your child’s health and well-being. Our dietitian, Marina, can assess your child’s nutritional needs based on their age, growth trajectory, and activity level, ensuring they receive the nutrients essential for healthy growth. Whether you have an infant, picky eater, a child with food allergies or intolerances, or a teenager involved in sports, our dietitian can provide tailored recommendations to meet your child’s unique needs.
Supporting Children with restricted eating or ARFID
Dietitians can play a crucial role in supporting children with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), recognising the diverse ways individuals experience food and eating. Understanding that ARFID is part of the spectrum of neurodiversity, our dietitian, Marina, can collaborate with you and your family to honour your child’s unique sensory sensitivities and preferences. Together, you will co-create personalised meal plans that respect your child’s individual nutritional needs and consider their specific food selections, aversions and challenges. Marina can help your child to explore new foods at their own pace, celebrating each step forward, fostering a positive relationship with food and promoting your child’s overall well-being.
Establishing Healthy Eating Habits
Our dietitian can work with you and your child to create a positive food environment at home, introduce a variety of nutritious foods, and promote balanced meals and snacks. By making healthy eating fun and engaging, Marina can help your child develop a healthy relationship with food and empower them to make smart food choices as they grow older.
Support with Nutritional Concerns
From childhood illnesses to food allergies, intolerances and disordered eating, there are various nutritional concerns that can affect children’s growth and development. Our dietitian can provide valuable guidance and support in preventing and managing these health issues, working closely with you and your child’s healthcare team to develop personalised nutrition plans and lifestyle interventions. Whether it’s promoting a healthy lifestyle, addressing nutrient deficiencies, recipe and cooking ideas, or managing food-related allergies or intolerances, a dietitian can help optimise your child’s health and well-being.
How our Dietitian can Support Adults
Personalised Nutrition Plans
When it comes to nutrition, one size definitely does not fit all. Our dietitian can assess your individual needs, taking into account your age, gender, activity level, medical history, personal preferences, and cultural and family dynamics. With this information, they can create a tailored nutrition plan that suits your lifestyle and helps you reach your specific health goals, whether it’s losing weight, managing a medical condition like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), diabetes, hypertension, or simply eating more mindfully.
Education and Support
Navigating the complex world of nutrition can be daunting. Our dietitian can help you by providing evidence-based information and debunking myths. She can help you understand the role of different nutrients in your body, teach you how to decipher food labels, and empower you to make informed choices about what you eat.
Behaviour Change Strategies
Changing your eating habits isn’t just about knowing what to eat—it’s also about changing the way you think about food and modifying your behaviours. Our dietitian can help you identify barriers to healthy eating, develop strategies to overcome them, and establish sustainable habits that promote long-term success. Whether it’s meal planning, portion control, or mindful eating techniques, they provide practical tools and strategies to help you make lasting changes.
If you would like to chat with our dietitian, Marina, about nutritional support for yourself or your child, please get in touch via our contact page.
Dietitian FAQs
Paediatric dietitians specialise in providing nutrition guidance and support specifically tailored to children’s needs. They assess nutritional requirements for growth and development, create meal plans, address dietary deficiencies or excesses, and offer guidance for managing various health conditions through diet.
It’s advisable to consult a dietitian if your child has specific dietary concerns, such as picky eating habits, food allergies or intolerances, weight management issues, chronic illnesses affecting nutrition, or if you need guidance on optimising their nutrition for growth and development.
Paediatric dietitians can offer strategies and guidance to address selective eating behaviours in children. They may suggest ways to introduce new foods, improve mealtime dynamics, provide nutritionally balanced alternatives, and offer support to ensure children are meeting their nutritional needs despite their selective eating habits.
Dietitians play a crucial role in managing food allergies and intolerances by assessing gastrointestinal and/or atopy symptoms, dietary intake/restrictions, ensuring adequate nutrient intake, and helping individuals and families navigate food choices while avoiding allergens and food triggers. They can also provide education on reading food labels, meal planning, and identifying hidden sources of allergens and food triggers.
Dietitians collaborate with healthcare teams to develop medical-nutrition therapy plans tailored to specific chronic health conditions such as gastrointestinal disorders/diseases (e.g., coeliac disease, IBS) diabetes, mental health, and heart disease. They provide guidance on optimising dietary intake, monitoring growth, and supporting overall health and well-being through nutrition.
You may be eligible for a Medicare rebate for dietitian services if your complex care needs are overseen by a general practitioner (GP) under a shared care plan or through a GP Management Plan and Team Care Arrangements. This rebate is part of coordinated healthcare efforts to support comprehensive management of your health.
If your child has a Capacity Building budget in their NDIS plan and goals around nutrition, you can use NDIS funding to see a Dietitian. Our dietitian, Marina, is able to see self-managed and plan-managed NDIS clients.
