What Do Dietitians Do?
Dietitians are qualified health professionals who specialize in nutrition and food science, helping individuals and families achieve better health through personalized dietary guidance. They use evidence-based nutrition strategies to support people of all ages, from infants to adults, in managing various health conditions and improving overall well-being.
How Can a Dietitian Help?
Dietitians work in many areas of health, including:
- Paediatric Nutrition – Supporting children with fussy eating, food aversions, allergies, gut health, growth concerns, and feeding difficulties (including ASD, ADHD, and sensory challenges).
- Feeding Therapy – Working with children, families, and therapists to improve oral motor skills, food acceptance, and mealtime routines in a fun and engaging way.
- Allergy & Intolerance Management – Helping families identify and manage food allergies and intolerances, ensuring a nutritionally balanced diet despite dietary restrictions.
- Growth & Weight Management – Supporting children who experience slow weight gain, growth delays, or weight concerns by developing safe, effective, and nourishing meal plans.
- Chronic Disease & Gut Health – Assisting children and adults with conditions like coeliac disease, diabetes, IBS, and gastrointestinal disorders through targeted nutrition plans.
- Selective & Picky Eating Support – Helping children with limited food variety, sensory sensitivities, and meal anxiety to expand their diet in a pressure-free, positive way.
- Eating Disorders & Relationship with Food – Providing compassionate, family-centered support for individuals struggling with ARFID, anorexia, binge eating, or disordered eating habits.
- General Healthy Eating & Nutrition Advice – Educating families about balanced eating, meal planning, and intuitive eating approaches to foster lifelong healthy habits.
How Dietitians Work with Other Health Professionals
Dietitians often work alongside speech pathologists, occupational therapists, psychologists, physiotherapists, and medical professionals to create a comprehensive support plan for each child. They ensure that nutrition is aligned with the child's developmental, medical, and sensory needs, making mealtimes a positive and nourishing experience.
Why See a Dietitian?
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Your child is picky with food and struggling with mealtimes
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They have food allergies, intolerances, or digestive issues
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You’re worried about weight gain, growth, or nutrient intake
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They have a medical condition that requires dietary support
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They have difficulty chewing, swallowing, or transitioning to solid foods
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You want to feel confident about making the best nutrition choices for your family
A dietitian can help make food fun, nourishing, and stress-free for your child and family!
As part of your visit a comprehensive assessment will be completed to evaluate a young person’s skills for identified areas of concerns, including activities of daily living, school performance and everyday living tasks. As part of this assessment, your Occupational Therapist will consider the social settings, psychological factors, environmental factors and prescription of equipment.
Our team of Occupational Therapists have the skills and training to provide the best assessment and intervention to your child or adolescent to help them gain the necessary skills for participation and independence in the activities of their daily lives such as socialising, playing, learning and self-care.
The team of Occupational Therapists at Kids at Play Therapy Services utilise a range of play-based therapeutic approaches to engage clients and make therapy fun and engaging. We believe in continually improving the independence of all our clients, through a family-centred approached. Our Occupational Therapists work collaboratively with other therapists within the practice as well as other stakeholders involved with the family and the young person. For further information about Occupational Therapy you can contact our therapists, administration team, or refer to Occupational Therapy Australia