During a nutrition expert panel discussion on the future of functional foods in London, Simone met Charlotte who is a Registered Nutrition consultant specialised in maternal, infant and childhood nutrition.
Charlotte, you are a registered nutritionist and nutrition consultant for individuals and companies. You also have over 35k followers on instagram - can you share how your business started?
I started SR Nutrition when I was just out of university and working for the NHS, as I knew I always wanted to be freelance. My work has taken many paths over the years as I experimented with different areas of nutrition, different roles and in different companies too. I’m now fully freelanced and still learning every day about Nutrition and the well-being world. However, I love the topic of child nutrition and this is where I now focus my work.
You are an expert in maternal, infant and child nutrition. Why is this important for our future society?
This area is so important for us to talk about more! We now have a lot of research that suggests that, when it comes to eating behaviours, the early years really matter. We know that preferences for foods are set early on, and that patterns of eating are often developed in childhood and can track into older children and even adults. Therefore the behaviours that we often dictate in young children around food can help to establish a healthy relationship with all foods, and enjoyment of a balanced and varied diet that can or may last a lifetime. For me getting future generations to grow up to love and enjoy foods is one of the biggest impacts we can have on life long health.
You consult individuals and companies by following the guidelines of the Association for Nutrition. Why is this so important to follow these guidelines?
For my profession, it’s so vital that the public have access to evidence-based, credible information that has come from scientific consensus and not the opinions of just one or two. Anyone can have an opinion on food and diet as we all eat food every single day. But opinions often don’t equal facts. There is a lot of scaremongering when it comes to food and diet and this isn’t often helping people (or children) to have a positive relationship with food – feelings of guilt, measuring food by numbers, misleading food packages. There is so much confusion and our Association for Nutrition holds a voluntary register of nutritionists who all advise based on up to date and accurate information about nutrition.
In 2030, how does maternal, infant and child nutrition look like?
I hope it’ll become more of a mainstream topic, with more and more people talking about why this area is so important for building a healthy and happy future generation.
What is nutrition?
Nutrition is learning to enjoy and love all foods, but with an understanding that some foods will nourish our body more than others, and that moderation and balance are always the answer!
Who are your role models?
I’m part of a Freelance Nutritionists team – SENSE Nutritionists – and some of the more experienced Registered Nutritionists and Dietitians from that group have been real mentors and role models for me.
More about Charlotte: After obtaining a Masters in nutrition, Charlotte now runs a successful nutrition consultancy company called SR Nutrition (www.srnutrition.co.uk), which focuses mainly on work with children between the ages of 0-16 and their parents. A lot of Charlotte’s work involves working with the media on TV, radio and print.
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