Nutrition

There are many reasons to see a pediatric registered dietetic nutritionist. Here are a few:

• Dealing with picky eaters or food issues
• Digestive problems
• Managing pre-diabetes, high cholesterol, celiac disease, or other conditions
• Weight control (gaining or losing)
• Eating to improve sports performance
• Eating to support a healthy lifestyle
• Help planning meals, menus, and snacks

nutrition coordinators

 Renee DeFrang, RDN, CDE, CPT

Renee is a registered dietitian nutritionist, a certified diabetes educator and a certified personal trainer through the National Council on Strength and Fitness. She earner her bachelor’s degree in dietetics at Michigan State University and completed her dietetic internship at Loyola University in Chicago.

Jill Graybill, RDN

Jill is a registered dietitian with a masters in nutrition and a certificate in childhood and adolescent weight management.  She obtained her bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University, her master’s from Central Michigan University and completed her dietetic internship at Vanderbilt University.

Resources

• HealthyCounts
  A simple, step-by-step routine kids can follow—one that could add up to a lifetime of better health.
• School Lunches
  Tips for packing a nutritious lunch
• Choose My Plate
  To advance and promote dietary guidance and to conduct applied research and analyses in nutrition and consumer economics.
• KidsEatRight
  Help your child grow healthy with science based health and nutrition information, backed by the expertise of nutrition professionals.
• HealthyChildren
  HealthyChildren.org is the only parenting website backed by 62,000 pediatricians committed to the attainment of optimal physical, mental, and social health and well being for all infants, children, adolescents and young adults.
• KidsHealth
  KidHealth is the #1 most visited website for children's health and development.
• Heart Health Eating: Getting Started
• HealthyEatingForFamilies
  Our Mission is to help everyone in the family—children, teens, parents and grandparents—eat healthier so that everyone can achieve a healthy weight. 
• TheFeedingDoctor
  End the power struggles. Find help for picky eating, food preoccupation and address worries about weight. Make the family table a place everyone wants to be.
• EllynSatter
  ESI is dedicated to improving quality of life. People are healthier in all ways when they eat and feed with practicality and enjoyment, based on the evidence-based, clinically tested, and highly effective Satter Feeding Dynamics Model and Satter Eating Competence Model.
• RealMomNutrition
  Feeding toddlers can be challenging—after all, their growth has slowed (which can lower appetite) and they're testing out their newfound independence.

Recommended Books

• "American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Parent Guide to Childhood Obesity" by Sandra Hassink
• "Fearless Feedings" by Jill Castle and Maryann Jacobson
• "Healthy Eating, Healthy Weight for Kids and Teens" by Jodie Shield and Mary Catherine Mullen
• "Love Me, Feed Me" by Katja Rowell
• "Your Child's Weight: Helping Without Harming" by Ellyn Satter
• "Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense" by Ellyn Satter
• "The Picky Eating Solution" by Deborah Kennedy

Download Brochures

• Pediatric Nutrition

Request an Appointment

Online through our patient portal or call (616) 949-4465

For virtual visits, please follow these steps to download the Care Convene app, register and schedule your appointment.