The Paediatric Renal Nutrition Taskforce comprises paediatric renal dietitians and paediatric nephrologists from 9 countries across Europe and North America who are dedicated to improving the nutritional care of children with kidney diseases.
The taskforce is endorsed by ESPN and IPNA.
Why was the Paediatric Renal Nutrition Taskforce created?
The taskforce was set up in December 2017, prompted by the challenges and inconsistencies in the nutritional management of children with kidney diseases globally. Many renal centres do not have trained dietitians and the importance of nutrition in patient care is not always addressed in medical education.
Our vision:
To ensure best practice in the nutritional management of children with kidney diseases
Our mission:
- To formulate clinical practice recommendations to enable best practice
- To provide education and training resources for healthcare professionals caring for children with kidney diseases
- To devise resources which offer practical support to children with kidney disease and their families
- To promote research to expand the evidence base for nutritional intervention in paediatric kidney diseases
Our values:
Our work will be guided by our commitment to open and transparent discussion amongst our members who strive to produce quality recommendations, based on the evidence base where possible. We will work inclusively with external experts and stakeholders and respect their opinion in developing and disseminating best practice for the benefit of children with kidney diseases.
Meet the team
Taskforce coordinators:
- Fabio Paglialonga, Pediatric Nephrology, Fondazione IRCCS Ca Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy, fabio.paglialonga@policlinico.mi.it
- Vanessa Shaw, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, UK, vanessa.shaw@ucl.ac.uk
Taskforce members:
- An Desloovere, Pediatric Nephrology, University Hospital Ghent, Belgium, an.desloovere@uzgent.be
- Brad Warady, M.D. Children’s Mercy Kansas City, Missouri, USA, bwarady@cmh.edu
- Caroline Anderson, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, UK, Caroline.Anderson@uhs.nhs.uk
- Christina L. Nelms, PedsFeeds LLC, University of Nebraska, USA, nelmscl@unk.edu
- Evelien Snauwaert, Uzgent University Hospital Ghent, Belgium, Evelien.Snauwaert@uzgent.be
- Jetta Tuokkola, University of East Finland, Finland, jetta.tuokkola@uef.fi
- Johan Vande Walle, Uzgent University Hospital Ghent, Belgium, Johan.vandewalle@uzgent.be
- José Renken-Terhaerdt, Wilhelmina Children’s hospital, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands, j.renken@umcutrecht.nl
- Larry Greenbaum, Emory University and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, USA, Lgreen6@emory.edu
- Lyndsay Harshman, University of Iowa, Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, USA, lyndsay-harshman@uiowa.edu
- Pearl Pugh, University of Nottingham, UK, Pearl.Pugh1@nottingham.ac.uk
- Nonnie Polderman, British Columbia Children’s Hospital, Vancouver, Canada, npolderman@cw.bc.ca
- Rukshana Shroff, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, UK, Rukshana.Shroff@gosh.nhs.uk
- Stella Stabouli, Aristotle University Thessaloniki, Hippokratio General Hospital, Greece, sstaboul@auth.gr
Taskforce alumni:
- Molly Vega, Texas Children’s Hospital, Texas, USA, Vega, mrvega@texaschildrens.org
- Dieter Haffner, Children’s Hospital, Hannover Medical School, Germany, Haffner.Dieter@mh-hannover.de
- Leila Qizalbash, Great North Children’s Hospital, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK, l.qizalbash@nhs.net
- Michiel Oosterveld, Emma Children’s Hospital, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, m.oosterveld@amsterdamumc.nl
- Louise McAlister, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK, Louise.Mcalister@gosh.nhs.uk
Taskforce members and alumni May 2023
Organisation of the Taskforce
As per ESPN guidelines, taskforce members rotate every 3 years and are allowed to apply for a maximum of 2 terms. The group meets twice per year in May and November and conducts business in between these meetings by email and conference calls.
Bibliography
The Paediatric Renal Nutrition Taskforce has now published seven guidelines in Pediatric Nephrology:
Current work streams
Clinical practice recommendations:
- Vitamin, mineral and trace element requirements for children with chronic kidney disease stages 2-5D
- Fibre and paediatric kidney disease
- Sodium and paediatric kidney disease
These will be submitted to Pediatric Nephrology and available as open access papers.
Dissemination of information
Webinars are held throughout the year to enable the distribution and teaching of the key messages to dietitians and doctors. Resources (diet booklets, videos and apps) for children and their families are under development. Practical guides for healthcare professionals and diet booklets for families may be found on www.vitaflo-via.com
Vitaflo International Ltd (www.vitafloweb.com) is a nutrition company which produces specialised clinical nutrition products for metabolic disorders, nutrition support and specific conditions such as kidney disease. Vitaflo International Ltd has funded the meetings held by the Paediatric Renal Nutrition Taskforce. The Paediatric Renal Nutrition Taskforce wishes to confirm that Vitaflo does not influence the development or content of our Clinical Practice Recommendations.