What is a pediatric dietitian?
A pediatric dietitian is a registered dietitian (RD) who is a specialist in assessing the eating and feeding behaviors of infants, children, and adolescents. A pediatric dietitian is an essential team member of a health care team due to the ability to integrate interpretation of childhood growth, the child’s environment, and developmentally –appropriate feeding behaviors as a means to understand the child.
The skills to understand pediatric growth and development come with years of clinical practice and working with many infants, children, and adolescents with a variety of eating and feeding issues. Examples of these eating and feeding issues often include:
- Growth concerns,
- Premature birth,
- Tube feeding,
- Genetic disorders,
- Respiratory issues,
- Trauma,
- Vomiting,
- Difficulties with chewing or swallowing,
- Picky eating or food aversions,
- Constant battles around food.