ORCID

Abstract

Purpose The incidence of food allergy is increasing globally and whilst there is consensus that dietitians should be involved in its management, the roles that dietitians should fulfil differ between different guidelines and the description of tasks remains unclear. Currently, no Swiss guideline exists to assist dietitians in counselling children with food allergies. There is a need for recommendations that will guide dietitians through the counselling process. The aim of this project was to create a practice guideline for dietary counselling of children with food allergy. Methods Practice guidelines were developed following the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics stepwise approach. The process consisted of six steps: 1. Determine the scope of the guideline. 2. Conduct a systematic review. 3. Draft the guideline recommendations using the Nutrition Care Process as a framework. 4. Finalise the guideline during a face-to face meeting. 5. Conduct internal and external review and revise accordingly. 6. Publish guideline. Results The process resulted in 25 recommendations for dietary counselling. Most recommendations are based on expert opinion only, due to the lack of studies in this field and showed similar levels of consensus between the expert group and external review by allergists. However, there were nine recommendations where the consensus differed. Conclusion This guideline provides a comprehensive guide to dietary counselling for food allergy by dietitians in Switzerland. It will inform best practice and improve patient-centred care and encourage a consistent approach, but it will need to be reviewed and updated as more robust evidence is produced.

DOI

10.1007/s15007-020-2568-4

Publication Date

2020-08-01

Publication Title

Allergo Journal

Volume

29

Issue

5

First Page

42

Last Page

51

ISSN

0941-8849

Embargo Period

2022-12-21

Organisational Unit

School of Health Professions

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