Practical tips in child nutrition for health professionals: A virtual learning series

“Nutrition is a topic that overarches the whole lifespan, and optimal nutritional health during childhood forms the basis of lifelong well-being. However, nutrition generally doesn’t get the attention it needs in health curricula, despite health-care professionals facing more nutrition-related concerns,” says Hulst, who is also the Alexander Lawson Distinguished Fellow in Child Nutrition and Physician Engagement at U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

“Parents have a lot of questions about nutrition and nutrition-related topics, and health-care providers should be aware of new evidence and approaches to help answer those questions. This accredited learning series will appeal to both new and more experienced health professionals, to help boost their knowledge.”

In each session of the monthly series, clinicians and researchers from across Canada share current evidence and practical tips. Hulst says the program’s organizing committee deliberately chose topics based on the types of patients and challenges that health-care providers commonly see, such as feeding disorders, restricted diets, obesity, and nutritional support for children with neurological impairments.

The first two sessions ran in October and November and covered infant nutrition — including breastfeeding, baby-led weaning and mild gastrointestinal disorders — and paediatric feeding disorder, diving into health outcomes, assessments and interventions. Recordings of both sessions are available through the Canadian Nutrition Society website.

Hulst says that one strength of the series is the diversity of perspectives that presenters offer. For example, one speaker at the second session is an experienced speech language pathologist and feeding therapist, who provides practical interventions and strategies to support patients and caregivers.

“Having a variety of speakers is important for this topic because we learn so much from each other,” says Hulst. “A lot of times, the problems we see with nutrition need to be addressed by a multidisciplinary team, so it’s important to know what other health professionals can do, who patients should be referred to, and which discipline would be optimal to support the patient.”

The December session focused on allergies, an area of concern for many health professionals and community members. Clinicians and researchers from SickKids and the University of Manitoba covered evidence about early allergen introduction, diagnostic strategies and comprehensive management plans.

“Allergies are a widespread concern, and people frequently ask when to introduce allergens to children,” says Hulst. “Recent research indicates that that we should introduce them earlier rather than later, and this is an important area of discussion. We also discussed challenges with diagnostic tests, reading food labels and daily management strategies.”

Hulst is a speaker for the January session, which will cover nutrition care of children on long-term tube feeding. She and other speakers will collaboratively work through a case study that shows how clinicians can support children with feeding tubes, and their caregivers, from implementation and monitoring through to weaning.

“All topics in this series are frequently encountered in children, and by bringing information and advice to clinicians, we hope to give them the education they need to care for their patients even better,” says Hulst. “It’s an exciting series and highly relevant for a wide range of health professionals.”

Healthcare professionals can register for individual sessions or the entire series through the Canadian Nutrition Society website. Recordings are available to all registrants.