Seed to Sapling Nutrition 2023: Perinatal And Pediatric Health!

In the dynamic landscape of nutrition and holistic health, one name stands out as a beacon of expertise and compassion—Amy, the visionary founder of Seed to Sapling Nutrition. Holding the prestigious titles of Certified Nutrition Specialist® and Licensed Dietician-Nutritionist in the state of Maryland, Amy has cultivated a thriving private practice specializing in pre/postnatal and pediatric health. What sets her apart is not just her academic prowess—with a BS in Psychology and an MS in Nutrition and Integrative Health—but also her commitment to reaching clients across the nation through the power of tele-health. Amy's journey extends beyond the confines of her private practice; she plays a pivotal role in shaping the next generation of nutrition professionals. As a respected faculty member, she imparts her wealth of knowledge by teaching Life Cycle Nutrition in the Nutrition Masters program at Maryland University for Integrative Health. Moreover, Amy dedicates herself to elevating the standards of perinatal and pediatric nutrition, conducting impactful training sessions for fellow nutrition professionals. Join Delivery Rank as we delve into the world of Seed to Sapling Nutrition, where Amy's passion for nurturing health from the earliest stages of life unfolds in a tapestry of education, compassion, and unwavering dedication.

How has your background in psychology influenced your approach to counseling and supporting clients in the realm of pre/postnatal and pediatric nutrition?

Firstly, I should say for the record that my BS was focused on cognitive psychology - how we think, how the brain works - rather than being a counseling degree, but we certainly touched on behavior change techniques and considered social and familial influences on people’s decision making. 

This biological understanding of the brain and behavior really helps when I’m working with kids who are on the spectrum, neurodivergent, or have mental health issues, as I can build my knowledge of nutritional biochemistry on to that foundation to support healthier brain function. For example, omega-3 fatty acids found in oily fish are critical for healthy brain development (structurally and functionally), yet most children in the US get minimal intake.

My psychology background also drove my interest in this specialty too: I originally wanted to be a child psychologist, and I have worked in a child development research capacity as well as in schools with children who have emotional and behavioral challenges, so when I became a nutritionist (and parent), I naturally gravitated towards pediatrics as a practice focus.

Given your expertise in both psychology and nutrition, how do you address the psychological aspects of dietary changes and challenges that arise during the various life cycles, especially for your tele-health clients?

When kids are little (0-5 years), parents can feel really judged if their child is a picky eater, or feel like they’re failing if their pregnancy or toddler isn’t following their predicted growth trajectory. I always aim to reassure parents, let them know that I’m on their side, and tell them that the fact they’re seeking help from a nutritionist is proof that they’re trying to do their best for their kids!

Change is hard, at any age. I provide a framework for parents to make incremental changes, and I try to keep my modifications to a minimum, to increase the chances that they’ll be both implemented and maintained. If I create a nutritionally perfect menu plan, full of foods that your child won’t currently touch, what are the odds that we’re going to be successful? I’d rather find out what the child eats today, and see how we can tweak that to improve their nutrition - the goal is progress not perfection. For example, if they will only eat a PB&J for lunch every day, let’s see if we can rotate in some different nut or seed butters, and maybe replace the jelly with a no-added-sugar fruit spread or sliced fresh fruit, and shift to a 100% whole grain bread. These micro changes are more likely to be accepted by the child, and more easy to implement for the adult. If we need to supplement with one or two key nutrients from foods that we just can’t get into the child’s diet, so be it.

Another common issue in pediatric nutrition is chronic constipation, which can have both a physical and a psychological component. Often we only focus on and treat the physical aspect, which isn’t going to resolve the underlying problem (which could be a fear of going to the bathroom after a painful experience or in a school setting, or maybe emotional stress and withholding). More fiber isn’t going to resolve that!

Adolescents increasingly make their own food choices, so getting their buy-in requires a multi-pronged approach. I usually work with them directly, finding what in their life they want to improve (sports performance, attention in class, skin issues) so that I can make my recommendations meaningful to them. No teenager cares that they might get diabetes in 20 years if they keep drinking sodas! But knowing that it’s messing with their performance or appearance might be compelling.

Also, as children get older, I think it’s really important that we talk about nutrition and eating in ways that help them develop a healthy relationship with food, and with their own bodies: many of us were raised watching our mothers dieting, or hearing adults talk about ‘being bad’ if they had dessert, and that isn’t an ideal model of healthy eating. Teens are also exposed to overly edited imagery on social media, and mixed messages from health and fitness influencers, so we need to teach them that “healthy eating” is as much about our mindset as our meal plan.

As a mother of two school-aged children yourself, how do your personal experiences influence your professional insights and recommendations, especially when it comes to balancing work, family, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle?

I understand firsthand that feeding our children, like most aspects of parenting, is a ‘good enough’ game! As parents we are spinning many plates - our work, our family’s needs, and our own health and wellbeing. If we focus all our attention in one area, we will inevitably neglect others. I don’t expect parents to make 100% of the changes I suggest, or follow plans perfectly. I understand that how they feed their families is important, but it is not their only priority, so I try to keep my recommendations simple, rather than overwhelming people with information and suggestions.

I have some parents come to me with long lists of supplements and restrictive diet plans for their child from other providers that they’ve seen, and what inevitably happens is that confusion and overwhelm kick in and none of the changes are implemented. There may well be twelve different supplements that could help that child, but if they add up to a few hundred dollars, parents start making their own decisions about which ones to order or not, without necessarily understanding what each one does. It’s the same with restrictive diets: if you have three kids and are told to try a gluten-free, dairy-free, dye-free diet for one of them, that’s super hard to implement in reality, as you’re trying to meal-plan for the household, not each individual! I’d rather say, if you only have the time/money/bandwidth to do three things, these are the things that will offer the biggest bang for your buck. I also don’t make money from selling supplements, so there isn’t that conflict of interest.

With the increasing popularity of tele-health services, how do you tailor your counseling techniques to effectively connect with clients remotely, ensuring a high level of engagement and compliance?

This is an interesting one. In some ways, I love the increasing popularity of tele-health services, as it allows me to work with people all over the country, from my own home. However, I do think that relationally, it is harder to create a strong client connection over video chat than it is in person. One benefit is that little kids can pop in and out of a video call, allowing me to see the child client for 10 minutes, but they’re not trapped in my office getting bored while I’m talking to their parents! And that also allows me to tailor my session content, in that I will have child-directed talking time, but separately have adult-directed conversations without the child present. I encourage clients to message me with questions, progress reports, and photos (here’s Johnny eating broccoli!), and I check in with clients this way too. I don’t know if I did that as much before virtual sessions.

What challenges do you commonly encounter when educating other nutrition professionals on perinatal and pediatric nutrition, and how do you address these challenges to ensure effective training?

I have taught Life Cycle nutrition for many years in a nutrition masters program, and in that setting I find the biggest challenge is how all of these ‘special populations’ have their own class carved out, worth a couple of credits, rather than being woven comprehensively throughout a masters program. If we consider that about 20% of the US population are children, plus another couple of percent are pregnant or breastfeeding at any given time, around a quarter of the population falls into this ‘niche’. Not only that, these are the most vulnerable periods of growth and development, where nutrition really makes a huge impact on health outcomes. Many nutritionists are graduating without deep dive knowledge of the nutrition requirements for these ages and stages, and don’t feel adequately equipped to work with them. 

This was one of the motivating factors behind creating my own comprehensive prenatal and pediatric nutrition program for practitioners - it was something that I wish I’d had available to me when I got certified! Some practitioners treat pediatric clients, but effectively like little adults, scaling down dosages of supplements but not really tailoring their recommendations much beyond that. Other providers avoid working with kids altogether, as they don’t feel they have enough training to work with them confidently. My goal with the Seed to Sapling Nutrition education program is to help practitioners gain the knowledge and skills to confidently and effectively work with children in their own practices.

If you would like to find out more about Seed to Sapling Nutrition, visit https://www.seedtosaplingnutrition.com/