Childrenâs Food and Mood
- What Works, What Matters?
Part One
Practical Solutions for Dietary Difficulties in ADHD,
Autism and Related Conditions
A FAB Research Live Webinar and Q&A session
-Â with Specialist Dietitian David Rex
With input from
 Dr Alex Richardson and Hazel De Maeijer
The video recording of this event - together with downloadable handouts - is available to watch now
- FREE to FAB Associates (for other benefits of joining FAB as an Associate member - see HERE)
- Alternatively, this - and other individual FAB Webinars - can be accessed for a small fee via our FAB Webinar Library
Most children's diets are "sub-optimal" in nutritional terms - providing an excess of sugar and artificial additives and an unhealthy balance of fats, and lacking in dietary fibre and essential brain nutrients.
What is still largely ignored is how much this matters - not just for their physical health, but also for their mental health and wellbeing.
Poor food choices and eating habits can affect the mood and behaviour of any child - but they are particularly common problems for children with ADHD, Autism or related behaviour and learning difficulties - including eating disorders (whether or not any of these conditions are formally identified).
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You will learn
- How a healthy, well-balanced diet helps to regulate mood and support mental resilience.
- What such a diet can look like - and why individual differences matter.
- How to ensure that what children get from their diet is what they need.
- What signs (behavioural or physical) might indicate that a child's difficulties could be diet related - whether these involve anxiety, attentional problems, mood swings, or temper tantrumsÂ
- Which behaviours are most likely to respond quickly to dietary changes, and which ones may take longer to show benefits.
- How to encourage healthier food choices for "difficult eaters" - without falling into the trap of making food a battleground.
- How sensory as well as psychological and other factors can influence childrens' food preferences - and the best strategies and tips to deal with these.
- Ways to improve childrens' relationships with food to benefit their long-term health and wellbeing.
Specialist Dietitian David Rex has more than 20 years' experience of helping families with these and related issues clinically, as well as in education on healthy eating in schools.
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Included with the full recording, you will receive the following factsheets and infographics:
- Dietary Recommendations for Children with Autism or ADHD
- Ultra-Processed Food and Mood - FAB Factsheet
- Veggie & Vegan considerations - FAB Factsheet
- Are "Gluten Free - Casein Free"Â diets worth trying? - David Rex
- Effects of fatty acids on ADHD symptoms in dyslexic children
- Effects of fatty acids on reading, spelling & ADHD symptoms in children with DCD/Dyspraxia.
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Why does my child reject healthy food?
Selective Eating:
What kinds of issues do parents and teachers come across?
Feedback received on our events
"Very informative â will be able to advise parents (in my job as a school nurse) re the importance of diet â Dave Rexâs talk â some useful ideas to use at school along with teachers."- School Nurse
"Alex Richardson has the ability to bridge the gap between her knowledge from the forefront of science and the need to find good information as a parent. More than that âshe genuinely cares about helping parents access up to date information on nutrition and behaviour."
- Parent with an Autistic child
"Stunningly good, in every respect - gold standard."
"I have attended a few FAB webinars and it is always topics you don't get anywhere else. Thanks for bringing more to the nutrition knowledge."
"These seminars are incredible! Looking forward to the next one. Thanks to all.""I learned a lot and found lecture very enjoyable and interesting."
"I love the way you gather so much information and present it in a succinct and direct manner."
Our Expert Panel
Our Guest Speaker
David Rex, RD
Specialist Dietitian for Highland Council, working in Health & Social Care â Childrenâs Services
David Rex, RD has a lead public health role for Food & Health in schools, nurseries and Childrenâs Residential Units; and for over 20 years, has been providing specialist Dietetic advice for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as well as other conditions affecting mental as well as physical health, wellbeing and performance.
Read more about David Rex here.
Providing their expertise
Dr Alex Richardson
Founder of FAB Research, world-renowned researcher, author, and educator.
Based at the University of Oxford for 30 years, the impact of her 90+ publications puts Dr Richardson in the top 3% of academic researchers worldwide.
She is best known for her research into how nutrition (and particularly fatty acids) can affect behaviour, learning and mood, as her pioneering clinical trials were the first to show that dietary supplementation with omega-3 (and omega-6) fats can improve behaviour and learning in children with dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD and related conditions; and that this approach may also help many other children without such diagnoses. She also published some of the earliest reports of successful nutritional approaches to both depression and schizophrenia in young adults, which have subsequently been confirmed and extended by others.
Read more about Dr Richardson here.
Hazel De Maeijer
FAB Communications Officer and Volunteer Coordinator
Hazel holds a BSc in Psychology and an MSc in âNutrition and Behaviourâ, accredited by the Association for Nutrition (AfN). She also has previous experience as a Learning Support Practitioner for students with special educational needs, and a personal and professional interest ADHD, ASD and related neurodevelopmental conditions. She has already carried out research of her own with higher education students, examining ADHD-type symptoms, mental wellbeing, and dietary omega 3 intakes within this population.
In addition to further research, Hazel is now using her knowledge, experience and skills to assist FAB in develop educational resources for both health and nutrition professionals and the general public, aimed at improving understanding and support to help more neurodiverse individuals achieve their potential.
Read more about Hazel De Maeijer here.
BOOK NOW!
Childrenâs Food and Mood - What Works, What Matters?
Practical Solutions for Dietary Difficulties in ADHD, Autism and Related Conditions
Join expert clinician David Rex RD, with Dr Alex Richardson and Hazel De Maeijer for answers to your questions about how children's mood affects their food - and vice versa - and the key issue of how parents and practitioners can help improve children's food choices in practice for better mood, behaviour and wellbeing.
All proceeds from this event will go to Food And Behaviour (FAB) Research to support its work Registered Charity No: SC034604, Company No: SC 253448. www.fabresearch.org
"FAB has raised my awareness of the importance of a healthy diet for all, not just those with behavioural issues, problems."
- Early Years Officer, Local Authority
"FAB Research provides a wealth of valuable information which isn't always available elsewhere - and in an easily digested form."
- GP and Medical Advisor
Who is this webinar for?
Anyone interested in how food and diet can affect mental health, wellbeing and performance
- for personal or professional reasons
⢠Individuals ⢠Students & Researchers ⢠Professionals ⢠Policymakers
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This webinar is designed to help anyone - whatever their background, education and training:
- to understand how food and diet can affect behaviour and learning.
- to find out more about the practical ways that nutrition can help to support better health, wellbeing and performance.
What is FAB Research?
Food and Behaviour Research (FAB Research), established in 2003 by Dr Alex Richardson DPhil (Oxon), PGCE, FRSA, is a charitable organisation dedicated both to advancing scientific research into the links between nutrition and human behaviour and to making the findings from such research available to the widest possible audience.
Our mission: We are committed to improving current knowledge and awareness of the effects of nutrition and diet on human behaviour, learning and mood. We aspire to be a leader of scientific research into how nutrition affects the human brain and mind, and an intellectual and strategic force for improving public education and professional practice in this domain.