FFK76: What supplements does my child need? Part 1, with Sara Dawson

Today is the first of a two-parter about vitamins and supplements for children.

There's a lot of wellness information online for parents right now between ultra processed foods and gut microbiome information and allergies and deficiencies and picky eating advice. It's hard as a parent to know whether or not you're meeting your child's needs. And for sure, there is always someone trying to tell you something. And unless you have the time and skills to dig into the nutrition recommendation, you can be left thinking that maybe you're letting your child down if you don't investigate or try out some of the things you're being told you need for them.

So in this episode Joanne wanted an actual dietitian who has to work within proper evidence-based guidelines to untangle some of that noise for us. So she invited dietitian Sara Dawson to come and answer a load of the questions we see getting asked online about supplements.

Of course Sara's advice is for general information purposes only, to give you some information about the UK recommendations, and does not replace the need to get personalised advice for your child from a GP or dietitian if you have any concerns. But hopefully these two episodes will give you a sensible starting point to cut through the online noise.

Sara is a highly specialist allergy dietitian with over 11 years’ experience, who has worked at two NHS UK allergy centres of excellence: St Thomas’ Hospital in London and Southampton. She helped establish the first adult allergy dietitian service in Southampton and now specialises in supporting children with allergies, both within the NHS and privately through her company, YNRD Ltd. She has taught and marked on the Southampton Allergy MSc and taught allergy on the Dietetics MSc at King’s College London as well as carrying out allergy research. She has also worked in CAMHS with children and with eating disorders, and is passionate about children’s nutrition, accurate allergy diagnosis, safe avoidance and reintroduction where possible, and providing realistic nutrition advice that supports a healthy relationship with food. She also specialises in allergy and eczema, and in 2024 set up the first paediatric dietitian role within the dermatology dept at Southampton Children's Hospital.

Links in this episode:

Sara's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saradawsondietitian/

Sara's website: https://www.ynrd.co.uk

SACN report if you're interested in the research: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65ddd5f6cf7eb10015f57fb4/SACN-annual-report-2023.pdf

Music "Happy Days" by Simon Folwar via Uppbeat