Dietitian Consulting Specialist
Dietitian
Originally from South Africa, Gina made her home on the Central Coast in 2008 with her husband and two kids. Her qualifications include a Bachelor's in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Stellenbosch and a Masters in Nutrition with a focus in paediatric nutrition and food allergies. She is a certified fertility and pregnancy dietitian (ELNA) and Lifestyle Medicine Professional (IBLM/ ASLM) and has worked within specialised paediatric and maternity hospitals for over 10 years as well private practice and government settings in the UK, South Africa and Australia.
Gina's passion is in supporting mums and their little ones through every age and stage. She's dedicated to laying the foundation for lifelong health, from pre-pregnancy nutrition to post natal replenishment for mums to supporting every age and stage of nourishing kids from infancy to teens.
As a fellow mom with limited support, Gina gets the daily juggle of raising and feeding kids, without neglecting your own selfcare as a mum. She believes in keeping things simple, practical, and affordable, tailoring her approach to fit each person and family's unique needs.
In a world filled with confusing nutrition advice, Gina's here to offer clarity and support. Her non-diet approach focuses on variety and inclusion rather than exclusion, developing a healthy relationship with food, enjoyment, and sustainable habits, ensuring you feel empowered to make healthy choices to nourish yourself and your family with confidence and ease.
Feeding Focus Support
We have a team of feeding specialists (occupational therapists, speech therapists and dietitian) dedicated to helping families navigate complex feeding difficulties. At Kids Point we believe working as part of a multi-disciplinary team ensures a more holistic and supportive approach to navigating complex conditions more effectively. We aim to provide complimentary interventions that are realistic and practical with our ultimate goal to improve health outcomes for the children we see and their families.
We understand that feeding kids can be hard! Being a competent eater and having a healthy relationship with food is complicated. Achieving a positive eating experience requires practice and can be influenced by numerous things, including medical conditions, environment, emotional stresses, mechanical difficulties, as well as consideration of all our eight sensory systems.
We are here to provide simple strategies to take the stress out of feeding and mealtimes for you and your child. Our Feeding focus support includes a comprehensive assessment with directed therapy sessions (with 1 or more therapist), based on your child’s individual needs to ensure the best possible outcomes. We aim to identify oral, sensory, motor, cognitive and emotional feeding milestones; develop your child’s feeding skills and behaviours around new and different foods; improve your child’s nutrition intake to support their growth and development and help families and children achieve their feeding goals.
We use components from a range of evidence-based trainings, including Responsive Feeding Therapy, Ellyn Satter’s Division of Responsibility, SOS (Sequential Oral Sensory) approach to feeding, and Neurodivergent approaches to Feeding Therapy. We focus on helping children with a limited diet become comfortable with exploring the properties of foods, integrating posture, sensory systems, motor skills, behavioural skills, social/emotional development, medical concerns, and the nutritional impacts.
We work with you to feel confident and assist with…
- Mechanical and swallowing difficulties
- Autism Spectrum Disorder and restrictive, selective eating
- ADHD and behaviour related conditions
- Neurological impairment, cerebral palsy, children with disability
- Digestive and postural problems, poor appetite, constipation, reflux
Our Feeding Focus Support may benefit your child if he or she has:
- Developmental delay
- Was born premature
- Selective or fussy eating
- Limited or restricted intake (<15-20 foods)
- Obsessive and compulsive eating behaviour
- Has excessive or poor weight gain
- Ongoing reduced appetite/food intake
- Chewing and swallowing food difficulties
- Takes more than 30 minutes to eat meals
- Spits out food, chokes, vomits or gags when eating
- Has ongoing bloating, constipation or diarrhoea
- Has food or drink coming out of their nose when eating
- Has difficulty transitioning from purees to solids by 12 months of age
- Difficulty self-feeding (e.g. using spoon/fork) by 24 months of age
- Aversion or avoidance of specific colours, textures or food groups
- Following a special diet (e.g. thickened fluids, texture modified)
- Experiences meltdowns or cries during mealtimes
- Eating non-food items (e.g. dirt, grass, paper)
- Distressful family mealtimes
- Tube feeding