HJNO Jan/Feb 2023

42 JAN / FEB 2023 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS CHILDREN’S HEALTH families and their children who are suffer- ing with feeding and eating disorders with the tools they need to recover by working as an integrated care team to address med- ical, psychological, and nutritional needs together. Services are offered in an outpatient set- ting for children, adolescents, and young adults while they remain under the care of a primary caregiver. A registered dietitian serves as the entry point to the center, and patients receive an individualized assess- ment and care plan. Families are then re- ferred as needed for psychological and be- COLUMN CHILDREN’S HEALTH AS we have experienced a broad increse in mental health problems among children and adolescents across the U.S. since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, eating and feeding disorders are unfortunately no ex- ception. Establishing the Feeding and Eat- ing Disorder Center at Children’s Hospital New Orleans was a critical need to be able to care for the whole child. The Feeding and Eating Disorder Center at Children’s Hospital New Orleans is the first hospital-based feeding and eating dis- order treatment program in Louisiana and the Gulf South. The Center provides chil- MEETING AN UNMET NEED: Louisiana’s First Hospital-Based Pediatric Feeding and Eating Disorders Center dren and adolescents with comprehensive assessment and treatment for feeding and eating disorders, while keeping kids where kids belong — at home with their families. Multidisciplinary care for feeding and eat- ing disorders is provided by a team of pro- viders including a psychologist, registered dietitian, and adolescent medicine physi- cian. The center focuses on providing ad- vanced, evidence-based care plans includ- ing family-based treatment for eating dis- orders and cognitive behavioral therapy for feeding disorders. The goal is to provide