The Effect of Food on Children's Wellbeing
Workshop Duration:Â 90minutes
Cost:Â $90.00
Are you supporting children whose behaviour, sleep or regulation challenges don’t fully respond to therapy?
Do some symptoms seem unpredictable or out of proportion to environmental triggers?
If you’ve wondered whether food chemicals or additives may be contributing, this session builds your confidence to recognise patterns, guide families and know when to refer.
Purchase this workshopWhat will you learn?
This workshop provides OTs with the tools to enhance their practice by incorporating food-related awareness into their OT practice. You will learn the following:
- The impact of food on children’s behaviour, learning and attention, sleep, and toileting—and how these functional areas are influenced by diet.
- An understanding of food additives and naturally occurring food chemicals, their effects on children, and how to share this knowledge effectively with families.
- Guidelines on when and how to refer to a dietician for additional support.
- Insights into the role of key nutrients in enhancing children’s functional performance.
- Practical strategies, including safer “food swaps” and alternatives, to share with families.
This workshop will NOT cover interventions to support feeding difficulties such as oral-motor difficulties, eating disorders, food aversions and ARFID.
Who is this workshop for?
This training is suitable for Occupational Therapists who work with children, adolescents and young adults.
This training might be right for you if you:
Want to broaden your understanding of how diet can influence human development and behaviours.
You are seeking knowledge to address functional difficulties and behavioural concerns that may be linked to diet.
Your service delivery seeks to educate families about dietary influences in a way that is accessible, practical and family-friendly.
This workshop is particularly relevant for OTs who are often the first point of contact for families navigating behavioural and functional challenges.
Why attend?
- Gain valuable knowledge to expand your clinical toolkit, helping you provide a more holistic and informed approach to your client’s functional challenges.
- Build confidence in identifying diet-related factors that may impact your client’s wellbeing and in providing families with actionable advice.
- Learn when to collaborate with dieticians and how to incorporate food awareness into your OT assessments and recommendations.
- Stay within your scope of practice while empowering families with practical solutions like food swaps that improve function without compromising safety.
What's included?
- Gain online access to the workshop – live workshops are delivered via Zoom, while self-paced options include access to recorded sessions
- Download workshop slides and any resources provided by the presenter
- Enjoy six months of access to the recording and resources via your Verve OT Learning Library
- Receive a certificate of completion for your CPD records, available via email upon completion of the workshop
About the Presenter
Veronica Sarunic has been working as an OT for almost 30 years. She has worked across many sectors including mental health, neuro rehabilitation and medico-legal.
For the past 10 years, Veronica has honed her passion and clinical expertise in the area of paediatrics and young adults.
Veronica regularly runs training for other OT’s to develop professional competency amongst OT’s working in paediatric settings
Melanie Reid is an Accredited Practising Dietitian (graduated in 1982) and has spent most of her career working as a rural generalist dietitian in community health in Victor Harbor, South Australia, and surrounding areas. She retired from the public sector in 2022, but has continued a part-time private practice, in-between caring for her grandchildren a few days per week, volunteer environmental work, gardening and dancing.
Food chemical intolerance, in particular, has been her special interest area for over 35 years. It all began when she started receiving referrals from a vising allergist, who was an early pioneer in treating South Australian clients with food chemical intolerance, and she found the detective work involved very intriguing and challenging. She really liked being able to help people sort out their food triggers for various troubling symptoms. For several years she worked with a local doctor who specialised in treating children with ADHD, until he tragically died.
Food chemical intolerance has affected members of her own family, with a sister whose migraines are triggered by high glutamate intake, and niece affected by various food additives. Mel acknowledges the excellent work of the Doctors and Dietitians at The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Allergy Unit in Sydney, and the wonderful advice and support she has received from them over the years. In order to help upskill her SA colleagues, and spread her passion, she has run several training workshops on this topic (plus one in New Zealand).
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Quick add to cartWhat Are Others Saying?
"I think OT's would benefit from this information, particularly in the paediatric space as the conversations regarding nutrition/diet are constantly evolving and impacts our behaviours."
Alana P, Occupational Therapist
"I appreciated learning about current research on the links between food additives and behaviour, especially for children."
Winnie W, Occupational Therapist
