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Clinical Nutrition and Lactation Services

Adequate and proper nutrition is important for a child’s normal growth and development. CHOC Clinical Nutrition and Lactation Services aims to be a reliable source of nutrition and lactation information for our patients, families and community.

We are here to help patients with growth and development, while giving them a foundation for lifelong health and wellness. We provide family-centered, culturally sensitive care that is custom for every individual, using evidence-based techniques and best practices with a multidisciplinary approach.

Boy and girl eating bananas

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We provide nutrition services on both an outpatient and inpatient basis, depending on our patients’ needs.

Outpatient Nutrition Counseling

One-on-one counseling with a registered dietitian is available with a physician’s referral. Nutrition counseling may be covered by insurance, but families should check with their child’s insurance provider to confirm coverage. Our nutrition consultations may include meal planning, nutrition assessments, monitoring tools, growth evaluations and child/family nutrition education. We help families treat common conditions in children, such as:

Picky eating
Poor weight gain/growth and malnutrition
Tube feeding assessments

Nutrition is also a key component of a number of other conditions a child may have. Our registered dietitians provide nutrition services as part of a multidisciplinary team in many CHOC specialty clinics and programs, including:

Inpatient Nutrition Services

Our dietitians are an important part of a child’s care team while he or she is staying with us in the hospital. We provide comprehensive nutrition services for patients of all ages according to medical need. These services include:

Screening patients for nutritional risks

Assessing nutritional needs and making recommendations on how to meet them

Making recommendations for infant feedings, including breast milk, formula or enteral/tube feeding products

Managing the care of patients receiving parenteral nutrition (IV nutrition)

Providing nutrition education and diet instructions for families.

Healthy Lifestyle Classes

Nutrition, physical activity and behavior choices are very important when it comes to a child’s health. At CHOC, we work closely with children and their families to develop healthy lifestyles and prevent serious conditions such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Learn more about our nutrition and lifestyle classes.