Carina Venter

From clinical practice I know that mothers/parents do not just want the dietary advice we give, but also the emotional support and that 'person on my side', but I had no study that I could refer to, a dietitian can help parents with advice on food avoidance, information on suitable foods, lifestyle advice, bringing normality into their lives and provide some emotional support.

I think for me the main finding from our results was the varied needs and range of needs that parents have in dealing with food allergies in their child, particularly the need regarding emotional support, that highlights the fact that dietitians need training to develop these skills or that the role of a psychologist in the Allergy Clinic should not be overlooked.