Women, Youth and Children - Nutrition

The Women, Youth and Children Community Nutrition service provides free nutrition advice for children, young people, pregnant women and women in the first two years after birth.

About this service

Our community dietitians provide advice on:

• eating for good health
• fussy eating
• introducing solids
• food allergy and intolerance
• weight management
• disordered eating, and
• healthy eating during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Who we care for

Our service is available to women during pregnancy and up to two years after giving birth. We also see children and young people from birth to 25 years of age.

We offer these services free of charge if you have a Medicare Card or an Asylum Seeker Card.

How to access this service

Individual appointments:

You can make an individual appointment to see a dietitian by telephone, telehealth or face-to-face by calling Central Health Intake on (02) 5124 9977.

Fussy Eaters Groups:

If you have a fussy eater aged 1-5 years in your family, then a session with our fussy eater group may help.

Bookings are required. Contact Central Health Intake on (02) 5124 9977.

What to expect

Once we receive your referral you will be offered the first available appointment with a dietitian based on our priority criteria. Your appointment will be confirmed with a text message a few days beforehand.

What to bring to your appointment

• If the appointment is for your infant or young child, please bring any helpful information from your child’s GP or medical specialist along with their personal health record (Blue Book).
• If the appointment is for a young person or pregnant or breastfeeding woman, please bring any helpful information from your GP or medical specialist.

Where we’re located

Our clinics are located at:

• Belconnen Community Health Centre
• City Community Health Centre
• Gungahlin Community Health Centre
• Phillip Community Health Centre
• Tuggeranong Community Health Centre
• West Belconnen Child and Family Health Centre.

You can also choose to have your appointment with us by telephone, telehealth (Video call) or face-to-face.

Resources

The following Tuckatalk factsheets are for infants and children up to 12 years of age:

• Tuckatalk: Baby’s first foods (PDF, 460.77 KB)
• Tuckatalk: Bottle or Cup? (PDF, 396.9 KB)
• Tuckatalk: Setting Healthy Habits (PDF, 372.5 KB)
• Tuckatalk: Drink up for good health (PDF, 302.71 KB)
• Tuckatalk: Food for your Toddler (1–3 years old) (PDF, 933.66 KB)
• Tuckatalk: Food for your Child (4–6 years old) (PDF, 893.01 KB)
• Tuckatalk: Pack a Lunch With Some Punch (PDF, 1097.26 KB)
• Tuckatalk: Snacks (PDF, 452.08 KB)
• Tuckatalk: Healthy lifestyles for healthy bodies (PDF, 1910.89 KB)
• Tuckatalk: Constipation (PDF, 386.31 KB)
• Tuckatalk: Calcium (PDF, 399.07 KB)
• Tuckatalk: Children and Iron (PDF, 428.18 KB)
• Tuckatalk: From Milk to More (PDF, 2296.33 KB)

Community Nutrition requests

Our dietitians can provide presentations and workshops on various nutrition topics for community and not-for-profit organisations. Please complete the Request for Nutrition Involvement Form (DOC, 125 KB) and send it to WYC-Nutrition@act.gov.au

Infant feeding guidelines

We encourage you to follow the guidelines below when feeding your infant. These are in line with the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and are recommended for all parents and carers.

• When your infant is ready (around 6 months, but not before 4 months), start to introduce a variety of solid foods while continuing breastfeeding—begin with iron-rich foods
• All infants should be given allergenic solid foods such as peanut butter, cooked egg, dairy and wheat products in the first year of life—this includes those who are at high risk of an allergy
• Hydrolysed infant formula is not recommended for the prevention of allergic disease

You can find more information on infant feeding and allergy prevention, as well as introducing solid foods to infants on the ASCIA website.