If your child struggles with eating, whether that means skipping meals, refusing entire food groups, or battling mealtime anxiety, it can leave you feeling worried, frustrated, and unsure of what to do next. You want your child to grow, thrive, and enjoy food without stress, but the path forward isn’t always clear.
At Balanced Nutrition Therapy, our experienced team of Registered Dietitians understands how emotional feeding challenges can be for both parents and kids. Our goal is to take that weight off your shoulders. With gentle, evidence-based care, we help families find peace and confidence around food, supporting healthy growth, nourishment, and positive relationships with eating.
Pediatric Nutrition Services in the St. Louis Area
Meet Faith Wright - Registered Dietitian Specializing in Pediatrics
Faith Wright, MS, RD, LD has years of experience working with children and families in both hospital and outpatient settings. Faith is skilled in managing complex nutritional concerns from feeding disorders and growth delays to food allergies and medical conditions affecting nutrition.
Parents and clients alike appreciate Faith’s calming presence, sprinkled with just the right dose of humor. She takes time to truly get to know each child and family, building the trust needed for her clients to feel supported as they face their fears and take on challenges.
Whether she’s helping a picky eater try new foods, guiding a teen athlete on fueling well, or supporting a family through an eating disorder recovery plan, Faith approaches every situation with warmth, patience, and practical guidance you can actually use at home.
Faith offers appointments in-person at our Crestwood, MO office and virtually for families across several states making specialized pediatric nutrition care accessible wherever you are.
Supporting Healthy Growth, One Bite at a Time
Our dietitians deliver comprehensive, evidence-based guidance tailored to each child’s developmental stage and medical history. We partner with families to address both medical and behavioral feeding challenges, fostering lifelong healthy habits. Here are some of the conditions we treat:
Eating Disorders in Children
Eating disorders involve unhealthy relationships with food, eating behaviors, and body image; early recognition and nutrition support greatly improve recovery outcomes. We support children and teens navigating anorexia nervosa, atypical anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, and ARFID. These conditions often can involve restrictive eating, binge-purge cycles, or intense anxiety around food and body image.
Nutrition therapy is critical to restore energy balance and support safe weight restoration in instances of extreme weight loss. Depending on the specific eating disorder, treatment focuses on normalizing eating patterns, restoring nutrient adequacy, addressing triggers in binge or purge cycles, gradual exposures of new foods, and family-based strategies.
Failure to Thrive
Failure to thrive describes inadequate weight gain or growth in infants and children. When growth falls behind, we investigate feeding behaviors, caloric intake, and underlying medical or environmental factors. Whether due to chronic illness, feeding difficulties, or psychosocial stressors, we provide detailed assessments and collaborative care to support steady catch-up growth.
Tube Weaning
Transitioning from gastrostomy tube feeding to oral intake takes time and requires a gradual approach. We thoughtfully assess your child’s nutritional adequacy throughout the process of increasing oral intake. As we gently progress toward more solid foods, we ensure that their evolving intake continues to meet their unique nutrient needs while building confidence and comfort with eating. Close monitoring ensures adequate nutrition during the transition.
Picky Eating & Feeding Challenges
Selective eating can stem from sensory sensitivities, developmental factors, or learned behaviors. It may lead to inadequate intake of fruits, vegetables, and protein. We use evidence-based techniques and work with families on repeated neutral exposure and positive reinforcement to expand food variety and reduce mealtime stress. Early intervention can help prevent long-term feeding disorders and supports a healthy relationship with food.
Gastrointestinal Disorders
Chronic digestive issues such as reflux, IBS, IBD, celiac disease, and constipation can interfere with nutrient absorption, appetite, and comfort. We assess symptom patterns, monitor growth, and guide families through dietary strategies to improve digestion and reduce discomfort. Our goal is to support steady growth and prevent complications like anemia or low bone density.
Multiple Food Allergies
Children with two or more food allergies face higher risk of nutritional gaps and reduced dietary variety. Common allergens include milk, egg, peanut, tree nuts, soy, and wheat. We help families navigate safe eating with tailored meal plans, and alternative nutrient sources. Our dietitians address both the physical and emotional impact of living with allergies.
Vegan & Vegetarian Diets
Plant-based eating can support healthy growth when thoughtfully planned. We guide families in meeting key nutrient needs like protein, iron, B12, calcium, and omega-3s through kid friendly meals and snacks that emphasize variety and balance.
Sports Performance Nutrition
Young athletes have unique nutritional needs that go beyond fueling for performance, their bodies are still growing, developing, and adapting to the demands of sport. We provide individualized nutrition guidance for pre- and post-practice fueling, hydration strategies, and nutrient timing, all customized to the athlete’s sport, training schedule, and season. We also consider factors like growth patterns, appetite cues, and digestive comfort to ensure that nutrition feels supportive rather than stressful.
General Healthy Eating
Some children and teens benefit from nutrition visits to help manage chronic health concerns to support families navigating conditions like type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, elevated liver enzymes, and high blood pressure. We take a gentle approach to helping families build balanced meals, explore nourishing foods, and create routines that feel doable. Our focus is on what to add, not what to take away, and we always prioritize the child’s wellbeing, autonomy, and emotional relationship with food.
You Are Not Alone - Find Support For Your Family with Balanced Nutrition Therapy
Feeding challenges can be overwhelming, but you don’t have to figure them out by yourself. Whether your child is struggling to gain weight, feeling anxious around food, or simply not eating the variety you’d like, Balanced Nutrition Therapy can help. We offer compassionate, practical support that fits into your real life.
Our dietitians will meet you where you are (judgment-free!) and work alongside your family to build confidence at the table and beyond. Family meals don’t have to be a battle forever. Together, we’ll create a plan that helps your child grow strong, feel good, and enjoy eating again.
Schedule an appointment today to get personalized, realistic support for your child. Appointments are available virtually or in-person in Crestwood, MO.
Early Intervention Is Key
Proper nutrition is vital for your child’s healthy growth and development, as well as mental and emotional wellbeing. You don’t have to second-guess, question, or worry any longer.
Help is here, and healing is possible!