Optimise your kids nutrition and learn how to implement healthy food habits.
Are you concerned about your child or teenager’s weight? Childhood overweight and obesity is a growing epidemic affecting children and teenagers of all ages with approximately 1 in 4 young people in Ireland overweight or obese.
Overweight and obesity can reflect overall poor diet and lifestyle behaviours and habits. If left untreated, these habits can follow the child or teenager into their adulthood and, at that stage, change can be more difficult to achieve. According to the World Health Organisation, overweight and obese children are more likely to develop noncommunicable diseases, like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, at a younger age.
At Spectrum Nutrition, our team of Registered Dietitians and Nutritionists are here to help and guide you or your child to achieving healthy changes for life.
If you are concerned about your child or teenager’s weight or health, you can book in for an initial consultation. In this initial consultation we will assess:
Height for age
Weight for age
BMI for age
Current diet and lifestyle
Energy levels/ mood/ sleep etc.
We take the young person’s entire diet and lifestyle into account. Based on our findings, we will set a goal for the young person. It is important to note that because children are still growing, weight loss is not always the primary goal. For many, weight maintenance will be a realistic goal as they continue to grow. This will be tailored on an individual basis as there is no one size fits all.
Â
Our Healthy Life Programme consists of 5 sessions. They each cover a different topic and challenges and goals are set for the young person at the end of each session. Your Dietitian or Nutritionist will recommend how often you and your child should attend. There is no time limit in which to use the sessions but in general, reviews will be every 2-3 weeks.
In this session we look at how the young person’s diet compares to that of healthy eating recommendations. We educate the young person on different food groups so that they know exactly what they should aim to include in their diet but most importantly, why!
We know from recent statistics that young people are getting too much screen time and not enough physical activity. In this session we look at what counts as exercise and how the child/teenager can get moving more. The most important thing is finding movement that they enjoy and can maintain for life.
We know that it can take weeks or months to maintain new healthy habits. In this session we look at what might be getting in the way of adopting healthy habits and provide solutions to overcome unhealthy habits once and for all. We are not looking for drastic changes that can’t be maintained. The goal is to incorporate realistic changes that can be maintained for life.
Our team of CORU registered dietitians are highly experienced and skilled to guide and empower you in making long-term changes to help you and your family achieve your health and nutrition goals. Our team pride themselves in providing the most up-to-date, research-backed approaches to help you optimise your and your family’s health and nutrition.
All children or teenagers will need to attend with at least one adult as this is a family centered approach.
Generally, you will be asked to return for your first review after 7-10 days to ensure that everything is going smoothly. After that, sessions can be spread out every 2-3 weeks, but we are flexible. As long as the young person is getting the best result. weekly?
The initial consultation is €70. We like you to attend for a consultation first to ensure that your child or teenager is happy with our approach. If you decide to sign up for the Healthy Life Programme, it is €350 for 5 sessions. You may also be eligible to claim back if you have private health insurance.
Use our free signposting service to speak to a Dietitian on the phone for 15 minutes to ask questions and see what the best option or service might be for you, and they will guide you in the best direction for your individual case.
© Spectrum Health 2024
