Paediatric dietetics

The team extends across 4 hospital sites (Royal London Hospital, Whipps Cross Hospital, Newham General Hospital, Mile End Hospital) covering:

We see children from 0 to 18 years of age, and cover all inpatient areas Monday to Friday 9am-5pm

Inpatients

Royal London: 6C (Paediatric Critical Care Unit (PCCU)),7C (PASSU), 7D, 7E, 7F, 8D (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU))

Whipps Cross: Acorn Ward and SCBU

Newham: Rainbow Ward and SCBU

Patients admitted to the wards (not including 6C and 8D) are nutritionally assessed using the STAMP (screening tool for assessing malnutrition in paediatrics) tool and referred to the dietitians where required. 

Outpatients

See what coming to childrens outpatients is like in this video. The guidance below will help you correctly get to your outpatient appointment.

Outpatient appointments are held in the Royal London Children's Hospital, Level 7.

• Gastroenterology: clinic areas 3 and 5
• General Dietetics appointments: clinic area 4
• Allergy: clinic areas 3 and 4  
• Diabetes: clinic area 5

Royal London

Specialist clinics in conjunction with consultants are run for allergy, morbid obesity, cystic fibrosis, diabetes and gastroenterology.

The Children’s Dietitians run their own clinics and accept referrals from consultants and GPs for children under 16 years of age living in Tower Hamlets from consultants or GPs.  Assessment, advice and treatment are provided for:

• food allergy (up to 2 allergies)  
• faltering growth 
• coeliac disease
• diabetes

Two highly specialist dietitians (both with a background in Allergy Research) provide a full-time allergy service. They work as an integral part of the Allergy team alongside the allergy consultants and specialist nurses.

For any patients requiring a specialist feed, there is a specialist milk kitchen at the Royal London Hospital which produces a full range of therapeutic formulas and therapeutic diets as required.

Whipps Cross

The Children’s Dietitians run their own clinics and accept referrals for children under 16 years of age living in Waltham forest and meeting the referral criteria.  Assessment, advice and treatment are provided for:

• food allergy  
• faltering growth 
• coeliac disease
• home enterally fed children
• diabetes

Newham General Hospital

The Children’s dietitians run their own clinics and accept referrals for children under 16 years of age living in Newham.  Assessment, advice and treatment are provided for:

• food allergy  
• faltering growth 
• therapeutic diets 
• diabetes

Mile End Hospital

Home-enteral-tube-feeding dietitians are based at Mile End Hospital. Assessment, advice and treatment is provided for:  

• home enterally fed patients only

CAMHS Community Eating Disorders Service

The East London Community Eating Disorders Service for Children and Young People (CEDS-CYP) is a specialist CAMHS service for young people up to the age of 18 who are experiencing an eating disorder. It is part of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and covers Newham, Tower Hamlets and City & Hackney.

Visit website for more information:

https://camhs.elft.nhs.uk/service_detail.aspx?ID=335

We have a wide range of food available for your child throughout their hospital stay.  Children’s meals are ordered on a daily basis so your child can choose what they like. Every morning a ward host will come to you with a tablet and take your child’s order for lunch. After lunch, the ward host will return to order dinner.

Breastfeeding mothers will also be offered meals however; we are not able to provide food for other family members.

Menus

There are a variety of menus available:

• Monkey menu [pdf] 2MB
• Young adult menu[pdf] 408KB
• World food and Halal
• Kosher
• Specialist menus (gluten free/texture modified)

Meal times

• Breakfast: 07:30 – 08:30
• Lunchtime: 12.00 – 13.00
• Dinnertime: 17.00 – 18.00

Snacks between meals

We have a snack and drink trolley with food available in variety of portions which circulates the wards twice daily.

For patients identified as requiring extra calories, a selection of high-energy snacks is available. These are requested by the dietitian

Protected mealtimes

All wards have protected mealtimes which allow patients to eat their meal in a relaxed environment without any non-urgent clinical work taking place. During this time, nursing staff will serve and assist patients with their meals. Parents are encouraged to stay throughout mealtimes to support children with eating.

What happens if my child misses a meal?

Do not worry, we have an out of hours menu [pdf] 1MB available for patients who may have missed a meal due to a procedure.

How do I raise concern about my child’s intake?

Within the first 24 hours of being on the ward, your child will have a nutritional screening. For this, they will have their weight and height measured. This will also give you the opportunity to discuss your child’s usual eating habits and whether there have been any recent changes. The ward will also keep a daily log of what your child is eating and drinking. If appropriate, your child will be referred to the hospital dietitian.

How can I support my child to eat while in hospital?

Parents and relatives are encouraged to be around at mealtimes to support and assist with eating. If your child is struggling with their appetite, it is a good idea to bring in their favourite food, or if well enough, you could take them to the hospital canteen on the 5th floor.

Below are links to some useful information for frequent questions we get from parents, patients, and families.

Young children

Bliss is a charity that works with families and professionals to support them when babies are born too early or sick. Their website provides lots of useful information, and this link provides information on introducing more solid foods to babies born early, before term.

Tower Hamlets Breastfeeding support team: can be contacted via email, Facebook, or on the phone: 07961 609 626

This food facts sheet from The British Dietetic Association is about introducing solid foods (weaning /complimentary feeding) to your child.

The Infant and Toddler Forum has information on growth, feeding in the first year, portion sizes and common nutritional problems in childhood.

Healthy Start is the Government welfare food scheme. Healthy Start supports young and low-income pregnant women and families with children under the age of 4 years in the UK. Information about the scheme, and about healthy eating, aimed at both health professionals and parents, is provided on their website.

With Healthy Start, you get free vouchers every week to spend on milk, plain fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables, and infant formula milk. You can also get free vitamins. Pregnant or have children under the age of four? You could qualify if you're on benefits, or if you're pregnant and under 18.

Fussy and faddy eating

If you are concerned about your child's eating, if they are fussy or refusing foods the Infant and Toddler Forum is a really great source of advice.

Allergies

This food facts sheet from The British Dietetic Association is about cow’s milk allergy.

The allergy service also provides lots of useful information on allergies in children for parents, families and professionals.

General healthy eating guidance

This Food Facts Sheet from The British Dietetic Association is about general healthy eating for children

The Caroline Walker Trust produces nutrition guides for all ages, these can be used by parents, families and young people as well as schools and other institutes providing food. These include brilliant portion guides, recipes and meal ideas.

First Steps Nutrition Trust is an independent public health nutrition charity that provides information and resources to support eating well from pre-conception to five years. There are healthy eating guides, information on food banks, recipes and ideas as well as a guide to vegan diets in the under 5’s.

Specific vitamins and minerals

The below 'food facts' sheet from The British Dietetic Association provides information on:

• Calcium
• Vitamin D 
• Iron

Constipation

Constipation is common in childhood and small changes to diet and fluid intake can improve bowel habits. More information is provided here, but it would also be recommended to visit the GP so that they can provide additional advice and any treatment required.

Weight management

Are you worried about your weight or your child's weight? If you know your weight and height, NHS Choices handy BMI calculator to find out if you have healthy weight.

If your child is underweight or has lost weight recently you may choose to visit your GP to ask for a dietitian referral.

If you/your child are overweight you could ask your GP if there is a local weight management service that they could refer you to.

There are some useful online resources:

• The NHS weight loss plan.
• Tips if your child is overweight.
• Change for Life provides tips and resources for improving your families diet and activity.