Award in Paediatric Nutrition (EQF/MQF Level 4)

What Will You Learn?

• Recognise and respond appropriately to food hypersensitivity in children, including the ability to create safe and nutritious meal plans that accommodate allergen restrictions.
• Assess and meet the dietary needs of children with specific medical, developmental, or cultural requirements through tailored nutritional strategies.
• Identify signs of paediatric malnutrition and apply physical assessment techniques to support accurate nutritional evaluations and interventions.
• Demonstrate knowledge of common eating disorders in children and develop effective, evidence-based intervention strategies to support recovery and healthy eating behaviours.
• Understand the psychological relationship children form with food and apply practical techniques to foster a positive and balanced approach to eating.
• Address weight-related concerns in paediatric populations, including the ability to manage cases of underweight and overweight through appropriate dietary and lifestyle modifications.
• Educate and guide parents and caregivers on safe, nutritious, and age-appropriate food choices to support their child’s health and development.
• Support healthy growth and development in children, emphasising the promotion of long-term healthy lifestyle habits from early childhood.
• Adapt feeding strategies to meet individual challenges in paediatric feeding, including sensory issues, developmental delays, or medical conditions.
• Evaluate the use of nutritional supplements in children, ensuring safe and effective integration into paediatric dietary plans when necessary.
• Explain the causes, and symptoms of food hypersensitivity in children, and identify strategies for planning safe and nutritious meals that meet specific dietary needs.
• Describe the dietary requirements of children with specific nutritional needs, including those related to medical conditions, developmental differences, and cultural practices.
• Identify the signs and causes of paediatric malnutrition and demonstrate understanding of assessment tools and techniques used to evaluate nutritional status in children.
• Recognise common eating disorders in children and explain evidence-based strategies for early intervention and support.
• Discuss the psychological relationship between children and food, and outline techniques to foster a positive and healthy approach to eating.
• Explain the impact of underweight and overweight conditions on child development and describe appropriate nutritional interventions to support healthy weight management.
• Describe methods for effectively informing and collaborating with parents and caregivers, to promote safe and nutritious dietary practices tailored to individual child needs.
• Outline the key components of healthy growth and development in children and explain how nutrition supports the adoption of a healthy lifestyle from early childhood.
• Identify common paediatric feeding difficulties and describe adaptive strategies to manage and support effective feeding in various contexts.
• Demonstrate understanding of the appropriate use of dietary supplements in children, including indications, risks, and safe administration practices.
• Identify common paediatric food hypersensitivity and apply appropriate dietary management strategies.
• Recognise signs and symptoms of allergic reactions and assist in implementing allergen avoidance plans.
• Assist in planning and implementing interventions for the prevention and management of malnutrition.
• Recognise early signs of eating disorders in children and adolescents.
• Monitor and evaluate weight trends in children in relation to age, height, and developmental stage.
• Implement appropriate dietary guidance to support healthy weight gain or loss based on individual needs.
• Identify age-specific nutritional requirements for infants, toddlers, and children.
• Adapt standard meal plans to accommodate specific dietary needs without compromising nutritional adequacy.
• Promote positive attitudes and behaviours toward food among children and caregivers.
• Support strategies that encourage mindful eating and reduce mealtime stress.
• Assist in implementing feeding strategies for children with developmental, sensory, or behavioural feeding difficulties.
• Support safe and effective use of supplements in accordance with clinical guidelines.
• MODULE 1:
• Demonstrate responsibility in applying nutritional principles to promote paediatric health in daily routine.
• Work to assess and plan nutritional intake for children.
• Show awareness of individual differences in nutritional requirements and adapt approaches accordingly.
• Collaborate with other professionals in supporting the dietary needs of children.
• Reflect on learning to improve understanding and application of paediatric nutrition.
• Describe the basic principles of nutrition with a focus on paediatric health.
• Identify the functions of macro and micronutrients essential for a balanced diet in children.
• Define dietary reference values for energy and nutrients in different stages of child development.
• Outline the Healthy Eating Plate model and its application in meal planning for children.
• Apply the Healthy Eating Plate model to design age-appropriate, balanced meals for children.
• Interpret dietary guidelines and reference values to assess the nutritional adequacy of a paediatric diet.
• Evaluate common paediatric meals and suggest improvements for nutritional balance.
• Modify dietary plans to accommodate specific health conditions or developmental needs in children.
• MODULE 2:
• Monitor the changes that needs to be done to ensure the necessary diet requirements are met.
• Create a meal plan to fulfil and support children’s nutritional needs.
• Ensure a detailed and structured dietary plan accordingly to the developmental stage.
• Represent the paediatric nutrition requirements in order to support children’s healthy growth.
• Describe the nutritional needs of children according to their developmental stage.
• Identify the changes and requirements on different stages.
• Describe the nutritional relation in supporting children’s development and growth.
• Plan a healthy diet plan to fulfil children’s nutritional needs.
• Demonstrate the changes related to different stages of development.
• Apply the diet requirements in order to support children’s growth.
• MODULE 3:
• Deal with various cases of malnutrition.
• Ensure to plan a healthy diet plan to fulfil specific nutritional needs.
• Monitor the effectiveness of the dietary plan in supporting development.
• Guide how to handle challenges related to nutrition.
• Identify the cases of malnutrition, undernutrition or overnutrition.
• List the causes of malnutrition, undernutrition or overnutrition.
• Describe different challenges that might arise.
• Demonstrate specific nutritional needs in cases of malnutrition.
• Use children’s diet requirement while planning their meals.
• Plan how to overcome different nutritional challenges.
• MODULE 4:
• Ability to create supportive nutrition environments in home, childcare and school setting.
• Recognise and evaluate factors that may affect children’s nutrition education.
• Promote positive role modelling.
• Foster a culture of healthy eating through example.
• Interpret and apply the national guidelines and educational resources related to nutrition education in Malta.
• Understand the role of family, childcares, schools, in early nutrition education.
• Awareness of how early experiences influence long-term dietary habits.
• Understand the impact of food marketing on children’s food choices.
• Recognise the importance of role models in forming healthy eating habits.
• Understand how home routines, shopping and play can serve as learning opportunities.
• Adapt educational content to address and counter mixed messages.
• Demonstrate and encourage positive eating behaviours.
• How to model appropriate nutritional choices in daily life.
• Create interactive activities related to mela planning, cooking, grocery shopping to teach nutrition concepts.