Paediatric Symposium: A journey through early life nutrition
Australian/NZ dietitians: The live symposium is Wednesday, 19th March at 10am-12pm AEDT (Syd/Melb time)
US dietitians: The live symposium is Tuesday, March 18 at 7-9 p.m. ET.
Use this time converter tool to convert the time to your location. A recording will be made available after the live event.
About the symposium:
From pregnancy to early childhood, nutrition lays the foundation for lifelong health—but the journey isn’t always smooth. This symposium highlights how dietitians can empower families to navigate early life nutrition with confidence, addressing feeding challenges, nutritional gaps, and fussy eating. Join us to hear personal experiences, practical strategies, and expert insights from three leaders in the field:
- Marika Day sharing her personal feeding journey as a dietitian and parent
- Associate Professor Ewa Szymlek-Gay on improving iron intake in early childhood
- Dr Kyla Smith exploring five steps to unite families against fussy eating
Agenda:

A dietitian’s lived experience with infant feeding challenges
Feeding difficulties in infancy can be complex, affecting not only a baby’s nutrition and growth but also a mother’s confidence and well-being. As a dietitian and a parent who faced these challenges firsthand, Marika Day will share her personal experience navigating latch and growth issues, dietary restrictions while breastfeeding, and the emotional toll of these experiences. Marika will focus on the practical strategies that were beneficial, acknowledge the challenges and limitations that exist within current support systems, and key considerations for dietitians and health professionals supporting the mother-baby dyad. By combining professional insight with real-world experience, this presentation aims to foster a deeper understanding of the challenges parents face and how we, as health professionals, can better guide them through it.
Marika Day is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Nutritionist with a decade of experience across a variety of clinical and non-clinical fields, including hospitals, private practice, and developing online programs. Since becoming a mother, Marika has shifted her focus to corporate nutrition, where she supports the development and delivery of nutrition strategies and content. Her passion lies in translating evidence-based nutrition into engaging, accessible resources that empower individuals and organisations to prioritise health, along with creating recipes which she shares via her newsletter and social media.

Improving iron intake in early childhood
Why is iron so important in early childhood? What foods and eating patterns increase or decrease the risk of iron deficiency in children? And, is iron deficiency in kids really a problem in Australia? In this engaging presentation, Associate Professor Ewa Szymlekgay, unpacks the scope of iron-related nutritional challenges in young children, sharing practical, food-based approaches to enhance iron absorption and ensure sufficient iron intake for growing bodies. This session also provides a valuable refresher on iron requirements and bioavailability across childhood.
Associate Professor Ewa Szymlek-Gay leads a research program focusing on micronutrients and health at the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University. She has over 20 years of experience investigating micronutrient absorption and requirements; the aetiology and consequences of micronutrient deficiencies and excess; and strategies to enhance the content and bioavailability of micronutrients in the diets of at-risk populations in low-and high-resource countries, and the impact of these interventions on functional outcomes.
Presentation supported by

5 steps to unite families against fussy eating
Every dietitian knows a family that struggles with fussy eating, professionally or personally – but how do we best address this multifactorial issue? Hear from leading fussy eating expert and dietitian, Dr Kyla Smith, on how to help parents understand and support their fussy eaters to learn to enjoy a variety of foods at home. With her extensive experience in preventing and managing fussy eating, Dr Kyla will help break down the complex problem of behavioural change in a family. She’ll explore how parental stress plays into mealtimes, strategies for addressing nutritional gaps, and tips for building confidence in fussy eaters to create lasting change.
Dr Kyla Smith is a Paediatric Dietitian who works with parents to help them feed their families with confidence. Her range of online memberships to meet the needs of parents introducing solid foods, navigating fussy eating, packing school lunches and feeding the whole family. She’s also currently working on changing the way we talk about food in schools. Kyla has been a dietitian for 18 years and has a PhD in childhood weight management. She passionate about changing the way this generation of children feel about food and their bodies.
Presentation supported by
US dietitians: “Paediatric Symposium: A journey through early life nutrition” was not Prior Approved by CDR for CPEUs.
CPD/CEU hours are applicable for Australia and New Zealand dietitians. Check your local country requirements to see if you can claim for continuing education.
The content, products and/or services referred to in this symposium are intended for Health Care Professionals only and are not, and are not intended to be, medical advice, which should be tailored to your individual circumstances. The content is for your information only, and we advise that you exercise your own judgement before deciding to use the information provided. Professional medical advice should be obtained before taking action. The reference to particular products and/or services in this symposium does not constitute any form of endorsement. Please see here for terms and conditions.
Continuing Education (USA) | |
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Duration | 2 hours |
CPEUs Awarded | N/A |
Performance Indicators | N/A |