Dietitians Australia is urging the Federal Government to guarantee dietetic support for neurodivergent children at risk of severe eating challenges.
The advocacy body wants the government to ensure children with autism and mild to moderate developmental delay, who are at risk of or are experiencing severe and enduring eating challenges because of their neurodivergence, have guaranteed access to a dietitian within the new Thriving Kids Program.
It’s concerned that the risk and prevalence of eating and nutrition challenges among these children – like Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) or Paediatric Feeding Disorder – are not well understood or acknowledged.
“It is very common for autistic children and children with developmental differences to have strong sensory aversions to food, which can significantly impact their nutrition intake and quality of life,” Dietitians Australia President Dr Fiona Willer said.
“For many autistic children and children with mild to moderate developmental differences, the heightened sensory sensitivity they experience creates a range of complex challenges for them when it comes to eating food.
“This is not fussy eating. It involves severely restrictive ways of eating, repetitive eating patterns and even anxiety or fear of certain foods.”
Willer added that disruptive and damaging eating patterns can cause long-term problems like malnutrition, bone density loss, muscle weakness gastrointestinal issues and even organ damage. They can also disrupt sleep and affect mood, focus and energy levels.
But she added early detection, support and understanding, and professional dietetic support, can help these children.
“With the therapeutic support and nutrition intervention, guidance and counselling from a dietitian, we can protect children from developing serious long-term health impacts. Consistent, regular dietetic support is required for effective prevention, treatment and
management of severe and enduring feeding challenges, as a critical complement to the therapeutic support provided by the child’s occupational therapist and psychologist,” she said.
Willer argued these children don’t have sufficient options to access ongoing dietetic support through publicly funded health services.
“We urge the members of the Thriving Kids Advisory Committee to deeply consider the eating related challenges many neurodivergent children in Australia face when designing the Thriving Kids framework. Most importantly, we urge them to listen to the lived experienced of people with disability, and those with severe and enduring feeding challenges, and Australia’s Disabled People’s Representative Organisations who are making it very clear that any reduction in individualised support for these children will cause long term harm,” she said.