Back in May I ran two webinars for parents of teens or teens struggling with symptoms of anxiety. There was a staggering response with over 1000 registrants and incredibly positive feedback such as:
“I got a lot from your presentation and I am feeling empowered to make some changes to my lovely 13-year old’s diet and hopefully help him feel more energetic and happier in himself”
“Thank you for such an interesting and informative Food & Mood Webinar. After making changes based on these tips we saw the difference immediately. He was settled at bedtime for the first time in months and calmer in the afternoons. He also wasn’t coming out of school super hungry reaching for snack after snack. He is definitely happier and calmer. Thank you for sharing your knowledge”
Since then parents and health professionals have asked how they can support their children or the families they work with further.
So, I have been quietly working on something special…
I’m thrilled to introduce The Nutrition Toolkit, an 8-part course designed to help parents ‘restore calm from the inside out’, using the powerful connection between food and mental wellbeing.
Many parents I speak with feel overwhelmed and stuck, unsure how to support their child who is struggling with symptoms of anxiety such as:
Spending a lot of time worrying
Difficulty sleeping
Trouble relaxing
Physical symptoms like headaches, stomach pain or muscle tension
Withdrawal from activities they once enjoyed
Is not thriving - tiredness, motivation, mood, behaviour, focus
Has been under high levels of stress
Often feeling nervous, anxious, or ‘on edge’
While waiting lists for professional support grow longer, nutrition offers an evidence-based, empowering way for families to take meaningful action now. It also provides great hope, with research showing what we eat affects brain function and anxiety levels.
I’m deeply passionate about this work, having supported many families to quieten anxiety and help their children feel able to enjoy each day more. This includes a member of my own family with the most profound transformations, (not giving further details as it’s not my story to tell), but it means I am so happy to be able to distill my experience and expertise into this course which is backed by the latest science in nutrition and mental wellbeing.
When families are supporting a child who is struggling, with anxiety or other symptoms, it is undeniably stressful and exhausting for their child. It also has a ripple effect on the whole family. So it’s important to me this toolkit is easy to access and based on real-life strategies that are easy to implement. The whole toolkit is broken down into 8 mini-courses with each one made up of bite-sized videos or downloadable resources so a parents and teens can watch at their own pace and put simple tips into practice immediately.
The course includes meal plans, shopping lists, recipe books and tools like Happy Starts - a guide with 25 protein-rich breakfast ideas to promote calm. Families who have started using the toolkit have printed off the summary sheets and recipe books to share with their teens - empowering them to take charge of their own nutrition journey, choosing which dishes they’d like to try.
I encourage parents and teens to view nutrition as an experiment, learning what foods suit them best and to think about when/how they eat as well as what. It's a gentle but powerful approach that can be personalised to each individual and is flexible enough to work at home and away from home - in fact there is a whole module based on this subject.
In 2023-2024, over 200,000 new NHS referrals for under 18’s cited anxiety as the primary cause* with many young people stuck on waiting lists for support for months or years.
Please help me share this new resource with families who may be looking for ways to support their child. You can share this article or direct them to my website - www.drrebeccahiscutt.com - where there is a free downloadable information leaflet to print and share as a helpful starting point.
Together we can help families move from feeling overwhelmed to empowered, restoring calm from the inside out.
*Children's Commissioner for England
