Optimising nutrition during the developmental years
Gain confidence, reassurance and joy in feeding your infants, toddlers, children, and adolescents
Nutrition is crucial in the developmental years
Dr Bujtor is passionate about promoting the importance of adequate and appropriate dietary intake during the developmental years.
As parents, caregivers, and healthcare professionals, it is important we understand the vital role that adequate and appropriate nutrition plays in the growth, development, and overall well-being of individuals from early childhood (birth to age 5), through middle childhood (ages 6 to 10), and adolescence (ages 11 to 18), collectively known as the "developmental years".
Research has also shown us that behaviours and habits established in childhood and adolescence, including dietary intake habits, often continue to track into later life and commonly recur across the lifespan. Positive and negative experiences during these periods of the lifespan can have a cascading effect on all areas of development.
Childhood and adolescence present an incredible opportunity to establish lifelong healthful dietary and lifestyle habits
With an abundance of often conflicting information and opinions available, parents and caregivers often experience feelings of stress, anxiety, self-doubt and guilt, develop strained relationships with their children, and remain unsure of the right approach for themselves and their families.
However, feeding children in their developmental years can be a source of confusion and frustration for parents and caregivers
Dr Bujtor can help...
Dr Bujtor provides guidance and support to empower parents and caregivers across a range of nutrition issues to ensure they are providing optimal nutritional intake for their small charges, across the developmental years. (For more information see below - nutrition guidance and support "children" and "adolescents")
As a parent herself, Dr Bujtor understands the challenges that can come with feeding children and adolescents and is passionate about helping parents and caregivers provide their families with the foundation for a lifetime of healthy eating habits.
Dr Bujtor is also a paediatric feeding specialist, specialising in paediatric feeding disorders, is an SOS Therapist (Sequential-Oral-Sensory approach to feeding), and has extensive experience working with children and adolescents who have difficulty feeding and eating.
Whether you have concerns about your child's picky eating habits, want to ensure they're getting all the necessary nutrients for their growth and development, or need guidance on introducing solid foods, or are having to manage health related issues such as PCOS or food allergies, Dr Bujtor can assist. Her collaborative, science-led and education-based approach, coupled with her warmth and empathy gives parents and caregivers the tools and support to navigate a wide range of paediatric nutrition issues.
Nutrition during childhood
Early childhood is the phase of life from birth to 5 years of age, while middle childhood is age 6 to 10 years. These years represent a critical period of growth and development in a child's life, where they undergo profound physical, cognitive, emotional, and social changes that play an important role in laying the foundation for their future health and well-being.
Science has shown us that life is a story for which the beginning sets the tone.
As such, this unique period of the lifespan is a time of great opportunity, and of great importance.
Early experiences, including those of dietary intake, can significantly influence a child's physical and cognitive health, later academic successes, social relationships, and overall mental health and well-being.
Ensuring adequate and appropriate nutrition during this period is crucial in supporting the rapid development experienced.
Nutrition guidance and support - childhood
Dr Bujtor provides guidance and support to empower parents and caregivers across a range of dietary issues that can present in early and middle childhood including:
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Managing reflux
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The transition to solid food
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Adequate and appropriate dietary intake at each stage of the lifespan
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Growth and development concerns
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Managing a food allergy diagnosis
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ADHD dietary management
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Assisting neurodiverse individuals with dietary management
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Digestive issues (colic, constipation, diarrhoea, IBS)
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Key nutrient deficiencies: Iron, vitamin D, calcium, fibre, folate, magnesium, potassium, vitamin E
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Vegetarian or vegan diets for children
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How to navigate food refusal, picky eating, and problem feeding
Picky Eaters vs. Problem Feeders
Despite our best efforts to provide a variety of healthy and nutritious foods to our children, and role model appropriate eating behaviours, some still face difficulties achieving appropriate and adequate dietary intake. Having children who can't or won't eat is more common than you may realise. It is an issue that many families face, and it can be frustrating and stressful for both the child and caregiver.
Discerning between a picky eater and a problem feeder can be difficult. It is hard to know if perhaps food refusal is a change in your child's developing tastes, a developmental leap as they begin to assert some of their independence, a phase that will pass, or if there is something more at play.
But if your child is having feeding or eating difficulties, they will likely require some support to increase their food repertoire.
How do you know if this might apply to your child? Click here for more information.
Nutrition during adolescence
Adolescence is the phase of life between childhood and adulthood (ages 11 to 18). It is a unique stage of human development and represents a crucial and opportune time for further embedding the foundations of good health.
This period of the lifespan is characterised by profound transitions, biologically, neurologically and socially, and frequently coincides with puberty, considered a defining transition period in adolescence in its own right. Rapid growth and maturation occurs and children attain an adult capacity for cognitive processes.
Adequate and appropriate nutrition is essential to support this rapid and significant physical and mental growth and development. However, this is not always easy to achieve!
Adolescence is a period of increasing independence which is significantly impacted by environmental factors such as peer influence and exposure to media, as well as personal factors like changing belief systems and emotional needs.
This is where the guidance and support of a qualified nutritionist can have a significant impact. Dr Bujtor helps families navigate these challenges, among others, providing personalized nutritional guidance and support to meet the unique needs and goals of each adolescent, and their families.
Nutrition guidance and support - adolescents
Dr Bujtor provides guidance and support to parents, caregivers and their teens to help them navigate a range of dietary issues that can present in adolescence including:
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Adequate and appropriate dietary intake for this stage of the lifespan
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Overweight / underweight
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Acne
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Irregular periods
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Addressing dieting concerns, and disordered eating
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ADHD dietary management
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Assisting neurodiverse individuals with dietary management
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Digestive issues (constipation, diarrhoea, IBS)
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Iron deficiency, Anemia
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PCOS and endometriosis
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Key nutrient deficiencies: Vitamin D, calcium, fibre, folate, magnesium, potassium, vitamin E, zinc
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Vegetarian or vegan diets for adolescents
Through a collaborative, science-led and education-based approach, Dr Bujtor works with adolescents and their families to establish or re-establish healthy eating habits, understand their changing nutritional needs, and educate them on the importance of maintaining a balanced diet.