At NAPA, we believe that a child’s diet plays a significant role in their healing process. Many of our patients are on diets specifically tailored to meet their individual needs. Healthy foods have an incredible ability to help rebuild and support the body. Other foods are stressful on our systems and hard on the body – specifically those foods that our systems cannot digest well. For some children, these difficult to digest foods possess gluten and casein. However, this is not always the case. Some children may be allergic/intolerant to dairy and wheat, others to eggs and soy, and still others to tree nuts and oats.
Whatever role you believe food plays in your child’s life, make informed decisions when modifying your child’s diet. A good path to follow is to ask your pediatrician for a food allergy and/or intolerance test to back up food allergy suspicions, or try an elimination diet under the guidance of your pediatrician. And remember, as you work to provide your child with the nutrition best suited to meet their individual and unique needs, know that NAPA has resources to help including feeding therapy, nutrition counseling, and parent seminars.
-Special thanks to our OT fieldwork student Maya for reviewing this journal article and providing this informative inservice to the therapy staff!
At NAPA Center, we take an individualized approach to therapy because we understand that each child is unique with very specific needs. We embrace differences with an understanding that individualized programs work better. For this reason, no two therapeutic programs are alike. If your child needs our services, we will work closely with you to select the best therapies for them, creating a customized program specific to your child’s needs and your family’s goals. Let your child’s journey begin today by contacting us to learn more.
