Dietitians Week: Recognising HPFT’s Dietitians

03 Jun 24

This week is Dietitians Week, an opportunity to celebrate the impact and value of our dietitians at HPFT.

Here, Ruth Roberts, a Specialist Dietitian in HPFT’s Community Eating Disorders Service, shares insights about the meaningful work that dietitians do for people who struggle with eating.

Eating disorder dietitians work alongside a multidisciplinary team, providing support for those struggling to establish a healthy relationship with food. This struggle can be due to many factors such as an intense fear of weight gain; anxiety; misconceptions; body dysmorphia; needing to manage emotions; and establishing control.

We work collaboratively to support each person’s recovery by:

Providing education

Providing psychoeducation on how the body is impacted by an eating disorder
Helping service users to achieve a more balanced view of food and appropriate portion size
Making use of evidence-based facts to challenge misconceptions and dispel myths

Challenging fears and building confidence

Employing creativity in order to challenge fears, rituals and ingrained unhelpful behaviours
Highlighting compensatory behaviours and working towards building confidence to reduce the necessity to maintain them
Challenging guilt-inducing food rules

Improving food intake and eating habits

Establishing improved nutritional intake
Enabling safe refeeding after periods of restriction
Introducing intuitive eating, which leads to increased flexibility and freedom with regards to food

Personalising care

Designing structured meal plans that are mindful of individual preferences
Taking into consideration other dietary requirements such as nutritional deficiencies, diabetes, coeliac disease, IBS, food allergies and intolerances.
Involving caregivers, parents or family, when appropriate, to enhance support

If you or someone you know is struggling with eating, please visit these resources:

BEAT – UK’s Eating Disorder Charity:

https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/

Online self-help workbook, information sheets and worksheets for eating disorders:

https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/Resources/Looking-After-Yourself/Disordered-Eating

BDA (The Association of UK Dietitians) – Food Fact Sheets:

https://www.bda.uk.com/food-health/food-facts.html

The shape of half of a brain drawn with chalk on a chalkboard, connected to the shape of another half of a brain filled with healthy food such as vegetables and nuts

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Dietitians Week: Recognising HPFT’s Dietitians