2023-04-17 09:20:36
At Maccabi Health Services, they have significantly expanded the availability of dietitian activity hours at the Family Health Station, which caters to parents of babies and children from infancy to 6 years of age. It is important that dietician Hila Patreikov explains when and how to contact the service at the station.
Many reasons lead parents of children from birth to six years of age to seek nutritional advice, and Maccabi Health Services recognized the growing need and expanded the dietician service in order to cater to the large population throughout the city. Hila Patreikov, pediatric dietician at Maccabi Health Services, explains when it is important for a parent to make an appointment because there are certain cases in which nutritional counseling is critical for the healthy growth of newborn babies or toddlers.
“In any case where a premature baby is released, a meeting with a dietitian is necessary to decide whether follow-up is necessary,” explains Patreikov. “Growing outside the womb is not the same as growing inside it, many premature babies are released from the hospital with unique food compounds (formulas) and they need monitoring until they switch to the permanent compound.”
2 Viewing the gallery
Dietitian consultation for ages 0-6
(Photo: shutterstock)
Besides premature babies, she explains, there are also babies who are healthy overall, but with various conditions that make it difficult for them to eat or gain weight. “For example, there is reflux characterized by stiffening of the back when eating, vomiting or impressive emissions, with or without difficulty gaining weight. There is also hidden reflux in which we see difficulty eating but without vomiting and emissions. These conditions require medical and dietetic monitoring.”
Other babies who are referred to a preschool dietitian are babies with an allergy to cow’s milk – a situation that requires the intervention of a doctor and a dietitian, “There are babies who break growth curves up or down that need clarification, sometimes it is a nutritional situation and the doctor will ask for an evaluation by a dietitian, who will check whether the nutritional intake is sufficient Or an adjustment of the nutritional recommendations is required. More”.
Have you heard of early childhood eating disorders?
Hila explains that not every baby and child needs the services of a dietitian, and usually there should be a reason for it, but it can also be less well known, for example as in early childhood feeding disorders.
“Sometimes there can be situations where the baby’s growth is within the normal range, but the new parents feel insecure and want advice,” she explains. “Counseling can be particularly effective when the problem is identified at the beginning, otherwise we witness a growing snowball. For example, there can be situations in which the child does not eat at an interval of about three hours but every three and a half hours and the parents try to feed him with incompatible methods and he begins to refuse it, so Unfortunately, a feeding disorder may develop that can be prevented with personalized guidance for the child’s parent. E. Other situations in which it is important to consult with a dietician at the Family Health Center are toddlers diagnosed with a problem with sensory regulation or mothers who are dealing with anxiety lest “Oh, I won’t eat” and this feeling is exacerbated That as a parent I fail to feed my child can cause extreme distress and even cause parents to do things that lead to harm.”
Petrikov explains that feeding disorders are characterized by the feeding relationship between the parent and the infant/child. Mostly due to lack of experience, anxiety and multiple advices from the immediate environment. One of the most important interventions to improve feeding relationships is an eating observation made by the dietician.
start eating solids
One of the most common requests to early childhood dietitians is in the transition between liquid food (breastfeeding or baby food compound) and complementary food that has a solid texture. . “Sometimes a lot of complexities arise there, because breastfeeding or feeding from a bottle is a reflexive thing for the healthy baby and in fact eating liquid does not need to be learned. On the other hand, with solids there are skills that the baby/toddler must learn, sometimes there are communication problems with the child, sometimes problems with sensory regulation or problems related to expectations from the baby.” All of these raise questions and wonders among the parents, why isn’t he eating?, why doesn’t he like it?, why isn’t he like his older siblings who got along with the transition to solid food? The result is that the parents try to feed with distractions and stories and “airing” which may worsen the problem. There will be babies who will get along and flow with these diversions, but there will be others who will react by refusing to eat and the problem will only get worse if there is no proper guidance for the parent.”
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beyond solids
(Photo: shutterstock)
Because things don’t work by the book?
“There are parents who, if things don’t go according to the book, are very stressed. There are mothers who have to go back to work and don’t want to give bottles but only breastfeed, but what can be done if not all babies get along according to plans? Sometimes there are respiratory viruses, dental issues, many times there are factors Temporary little things that cause regression, and when we don’t understand that it’s temporary and it will calm down and pass, and we get stressed and start getting into trouble about eating again.”
Other common reasons for referral in 3-6 year olds are picky eating and overweight. In both cases it is a process that combines guidance for parents to change the eating environment, providing parenting skills for eating habits at home, this is because toddlers learn to eat by imitating the environment (a positive role model). Sometimes it is necessary to work on issues related to parental authority, setting limits, personal example and more.
She also explains that at the older ages of preschool age, the need for dietary counseling sometimes increases, due to obesity and often due to picky eating.
“The process is slow and one must understand what the basic reason for the pickiness is,” Petreikov says. Sometimes it will be sensory sensitivity and anxiety and it is possible to treat them, in other cases a gradual and non-threatening exposure of the introduction of additional foods and diversity is used.”
How long does the consultation last?
“Sometimes a one-time meeting is enough and sometimes it will take months,” Petreikov concludes that a “personal suit” must be sewn for each family.
To schedule an appointment with a dietician, contact the nurses at the family health station,
By email: [email protected] or by phone: 03-7462070
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