Q&A with FeedingPlus' Rockstar Dietitian Jordana

Jordana has been a Registered Dietitian in Ontario since 2005. Throughout her career, she has worked in multiple healthcare settings including hospitals, primary care, private practice, and homecare. Jordana currently works on the team at SickKids Complex Care Clinic at North York General Hospital, in addition to supporting kids and families at FeedingPlus. Jordana is passionate about dietetics and helping children and their families develop a positive relationship with food. Let's pick her lovely brain!

If you could give parents 3 tips to help their kids learn to love food, what would they be?

1. Offer a variety of foods throughout the week - don't pressure, just offer
2. Involve kids with meal planning and preparation without pressure to eat
3. Model your love of food by having family meals and allowing your child to watch you enjoy food

As a mom and Dietitian, which mealtime strategies have been most helpful with your own kids?

• Being considerate of their food preferences by offering those meals more often - but also including new foods with their favourite foods/meals
• Having them pick out new recipes they want to make and explore
• Trusting that their tummy and bodies know how much food they want to eat and need to eat to grow well.
• Not worrying if they don’t eat a lot at a meal, because I know they’ll catch up and eat a lot more at another meal. 
• Including foods not typically considered “healthy” routinely throughout the week so they don’t feel they’re special foods and then seek them out secretly or indulge in them. Examples would be chips, cookies, fast food, ice cream
• Ensure that I eat the same foods that I serve them. They watch me eat burgers, fries, cake, pizza etc. I’ve eliminated any talk about dieting or diets. We talk about how all foods fit and can be enjoyed.

Where should kids be on the growth curve charts and percentiles?

That's a tough question to answer!  I’d like to see a child follow their curve. Some kids grow in bigger bodies along the higher curve and some kids grow in smaller bodies along a lower curve. I have to monitor both their weight and length to determine where they “should” be on the curve. It’s not a one size fits all kind of answer. 

How do parents know if their child ate enough at mealtimes?

We have to trust that the child knows how much they need to eat to grow well. Some meals kids will eat more and some meals they will eat less. Kids may eat more on some days and less than others. But if they’re listening to what their tummy says, they will eat when hungry and stop eating when they are satisfied. As caregivers, it’s important to set up a structured mealtime schedule so kids arrive at a meal hungry and ready to eat. If they are allowed to graze throughout the day, they will never be hungry to eat at a meal.  Also, caregivers shouldn’t interfere with the child’s innate ability to identify satiety cues by asking them to “eat another bite or two or three”. I always ask caregivers who say this “Do you know how the child’s tummy is feeling?  Do you feel they are hungry enough to take another few bites?"  Only the child knows how their body feels.

What should parents do if their doctor says their child is not growing well?

I hear this a lot. There is a lot that goes into interpreting growth. I’d say the best thing you can do to ease your concern, is to consult with a Registered Dietitian. A dietitian will review the whole growth history, medical and developmental history and feeding routine.  There could be many different factors that can contribute to “not growing well” and it takes an expert to be able to collect the necessary data, interpret the information, and then develop an appropriate plan. 

If you feel you that your child would benefit from consultation with a Registered Dietitian you can reach out to Jordana directly at [email protected]. She offers pediatric nutrition counselling in the following areas:

• Meal planning/meal balance
• General healthy eating
• Assessing kids' diets for nutritional adequacy
• Introducing solid food
• Helping kids with weight and growth concerns
• Jordana has experience working with children with medical complexities