Nutrition taskforce

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
Nonnie Polderman, British Columbia Children’s Hospital, Vancouver, Canada, npolderman@cw.bc.ca

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
Vanessa Shaw, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, UK, vanessa.shaw@ucl.ac.uk

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.

Reports

Paediatric Renal Nutrition Taskforce – 2023 annual report

Bibliography

The Paediatric Renal Nutrition Taskforce has now published eleven guidelines and educational reviews:

2024: Assessment and management of vitamin status in children with CKD stages 2-5, on dialysis and post-transplantation: clinical practice points from the Pediatric Renal Nutrition Taskforce

2024: The management of dietary fiber intake in children with chronic kidney disease – clinical practice recommendations from the Pediatric Renal Nutrition Taskforce

2024: Nutritional management of the child with chronic kidney disease and on dialysis

2023: Nutritional management of children with acute kidney injury – clinical practice recommendations from the Pediatric Renal Nutrition Taskforce

2022: Nutritional management of the infant with chronic kidney disease stages 2–5 and on dialysis

2021: Assessment and management of obesity and metabolic syndrome in children with CKD stages 2–5 on dialysis and after kidney transplantation—clinical practice recommendations from the Pediatric Renal Nutrition Taskforce

2021: The dietary management of potassium in children with CKD stages 2-5 and on dialysis – clinical practice recommendations from the Pediatric Renal Nutrition Taskforce.

2021: Delivery of a nutritional prescription by enteral tube feeding in children with chronic kidney disease stages 2–5 and on dialysis – clinical practice recommendations from the Pediatric Renal Nutrition Taskforce.

2020: Assessment of nutritional status in children with kidney diseases—clinical practice recommendations from the Pediatric Renal Nutrition Taskforce.

2019: The dietary management of calcium and phosphate in children with CKD stages 2-5 and on dialysis—clinical practice recommendation from the Pediatric Renal Nutrition Taskforce.

2019: Energy and protein requirements for children with CKD stages 2-5 and on dialysis – Clinical Practice Recommendations from the Pediatric Renal Nutrition Taskforce

Current work streams

Clinical practice recommendations:

Magnesium and trace element requirements for children with chronic kidney disease stages 2-5DT
Sodium and paediatric kidney disease
Nutritional management of children post-kidney transplant
Nutritional management of kidney stones in children

These will be submitted for publication and be 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. To access the resources, simply register on the site and click on the paediatric kidney disease icon – you will then find the taskforce page where the booklets are located.

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.