Help for carers of fussy eaters

AN initiative by welfare and support agency Cafs is seeking to help parents and carers support children who may be fussy eaters.

The free session is part of the organisation’s Early Help Program, a series of support services which aims to provide early intervention strategies for families.

“Our Early Help Program has a focus on providing parenting supports in our community for any parents or carers who may need them with a focus on early intervention and providing education to families,” said Taite McNamara, advanced practitioner for the program.

“It provides that support nice and early before things accelerate and become a bit of a bigger issue.

“It frees up the system of moving into more intensive welfare programs.”

The session will cover factors which may affect eating including senses, experiences, and medical needs.

“We’ve seen a lot of themes in the community around parents really struggling with children and their food intake,” said Ms McNamara.

“We’re seeing now children being diagnosed a lot younger with conditions like autism and ADHD that can make it a little bit tricky to get children to eat different types of foods.”

The workshop will be presented by Melbourne-based specialist company Learn to Eat, Love to Eat, whose staff seek to take take a holistic approach to supporting people in understanding the root causes of fussy eating.

“We are outsourcing expertise to bring the community a targeted support option with that really good experience and the tools to support people,” said Ms McNamara.

The workshop will take place on Tuesday 5 December from 10.30am at 515 Chislom Street in Black Hill and to book a free place visit bit.ly/47xD4ya.

The Early Help Program also has other services available and more information can be found on the Cafs website.