Thank you for stopping by! We are so excited to launch our Intuitive Feeding blog.
About Intuitive Feeding:
Stephanie Forseth who is trained in the field of Occupational Therapy has teamed up with Registered Dietitian, Leslie Steeves to develop their Intuitive Feeding program servicing Calgary, Airdrie & Canmore, Alberta. Both Stephanie and Leslie bring a unique perspectives from their individual disciplines, as they both practice in the feeding therapy world to assist families with children ages 0-18 who have feeding concerns/issues/disorders.
This blog is where we hope to provide knowledge, tips, and support through a community that reassures you that you are NOT alone, and that there is hope - your child's feeding CAN improve and even flourish!
Leslie and I plan on sharing monthly informative blog posts from our unique perspectives as it applies to the feeding world, with practical tips and information to help your family mealtimes be enjoyable. Our goal is to support. nourish. love. - this is the philosophy we live by. We welcome you to join us on this journey and encourage any feedback, ideas and questions along the way.
Before you read our first post, we wanted to discuss feeding disorders and feeding therapy.
What is feeding therapy?
Feeding Therapy is a speciality area for health professionals (usually who have training in Medicine, Speech Language Pathology, Dietetics, or Occupational Therapy) who have chosen to focus on feeding concerns/issues/disorders in an individual. Pediatric feeding therapists such as the Intuitive Feeding team, work with families and their children to teach them strategies to meet their feeding goals.
What are feeding disorders?
Feeding Disorders are distinctly different from Eating Disorders, where the focus is on one's body image. A Feeding Disorder is defined as "the inability to eat a sufficient variety of foods in order to maintain a healthy nutritional status." (Arevedson, J.C., 1993).
In Feeding Disorders, the individual may struggle with the physical, sensory, cognitive, and/or emotional component of feeding which affects their willingness or ability to participate. Many parents go through the early developmental stages of their child's feeding noticing that things are "not quite right", but brush off their instincts and chalk it up to being normal. While every child is unique and develops as their own individual, there are "typical" patterns of feeding development that each child follows.
What's coming up next?
Our goal in our next post is to help identify some of the common "red flags" that can lead to the development of feeding concerns/issues/disorders. We hope to help you be pro-active in seeking out advice as soon as possible if any of the following signs are noticed in your child's feeding.
If you are curious if your child may benefit from feeding therapy, please check out our next post.
Did you know Feeding Problems are very common? "Approximately 20-50% of normally developing children, and 70-89% of children with developmental disabilities, are reported to experience some type of feeding problems." (Benjasuwantep, B., Chaithirayanon, S., & Eiamudomkan, M., 2013).