Dietitian Services
Our Registered Dietitians (RDs) provide one-on-one individual nutrition counselling and group education on various health topics both in person at our sites and at other locations throughout the city, as well as on-line. Through fun sessions with dietitians, newcomers and other vulnerable individuals have a chance to learn about the connection between food and health, how to make decisions about food, and how to eat well. Participants will learn about the role of food at different stages of life These include during pregnancy and while breastfeeding, in infancy and childhood, during adolescent and adult years, and when aging.
Our nutrition program also encourages continued learning about how food can help to prevent and manage diabetes, heart problems, osteoporosis, food intolerances and allergies, digestive problems, and weight changes.
Registered patients at Access Alliance can now book, change or cancel an appointment with a dietician using the online OCEAN platform. Book your next appointment here.
If you need to cancel or change an appointment, you can also do it online through the OCEAN platform.
Our Approach
The Registered Dietitians at Access Alliance believe in health with dignity. We use multiple approaches to client care and community programs, guided by client-centred, anti-oppressive principles. We recognize the layers of challenges that individuals and communities face in order to achieve health changes and we work with them to find changes that feel achievable and meaningful.
We rely on interactive learning to help clients develop goals that meet their individual nutritional needs. Wherever possible, we work with interpreters and use multilingual, multicultural resources that respect the diversity of the many individuals and communities with whom we work.
One-on-One Counselling
Clients are referred to our Registered Dietitians from our Primary Health Care Team for health concerns such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, iron deficiency, obesity, feeding toddlers and infants, pregnancy and disordered eating patterns.
Settlement workers can also refer clients for nutritional counselling, as long as they have a family doctor or nurse practitioner that they see on a regular basis in their own community.
Group Sessions
Our Registered Dietitians also deliver nutrition workshops in the community as well as at our locations or on-line. They also participate in a number of group initiatives like Newcomers Cooking Together, our various congregate dining programs, and grocery store tours.
To find prenatal nutrition programs near you, contact Toronto Public Health at 416-338-7600.
Resources
Reference and Guidelines
- Canada’s Food Guide
Released in 2019, this food guide has been revised with the latest scientific evidence, in a user-friendly image-based guidance. - Dietary Reference Intake Values (“DRIs”):
Established by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), these guides set out how much of each nutrient/mineral a person needs for their age and sex. - Find a dietitian in private practice, or at a Community Health Centre (CHC) near you.
- Nutrition Label Reading
- Unlock Food.ca
Brought to you by the Dietitians of Canada, this site brings you expert guidance for everyday eating. Also of interest: Unlock Food – Nutrition Topics, nutrition topics with resources, tips and tricks for individuals, families or communities, and Unlock Food – Glossary of Nutrition Terms
Nutrition Prevention and Management of Disease
- Calcium-rich/moderate food sources resource (Sunnybrook Hospital)
- Cancer Prevention
World Cancer Research Fund: Diet, Nutrition, Physical Activity & Cancer – A Global Perspective - Diabetes Canada Risk Questionnaire
Find out if you are at risk for developing diabetes. - DASH Diet [Lower Blood Pressure]
- FODMAP Diet [Irritable Bowel Syndrome]
A three-step diet to get to the bottom of irritable bowels. - Mediterranean Score Card
What is your score in protecting your health? Find out here. Raise the score by 2 and you have improved your heart health. - Portfolio Diet [Lower Cholesterol]
A compilation of all the best diet advice for lowering cholesterol in one diet
Recipes and Menu Planning
- Diabetes Canada – Recipes
- Dietitian-approved Recipe Database
- Heart and Stroke Foundation Recipes
- Kid-Friendly, Award-Winning, Dietitian-Approved Recipes
- Menu Planning Tool
Nutrition Across the Lifespan
- Food Safety in Pregnancy (what to avoid)
- Healthy Eating for a Healthy Baby (English and Translations)
- Infant Nutrition
- Nutri e-STEP
Take a short survey to find out how your child’s nutrition is doing. - Picky Eaters
Ellyn Satter is a dietitian and specialist in feeding infants and children. - Healthy Eating for Teenagers
- A Guide for Healthy Eating for Older Adults
Food Safety
Environmental Sustainability and Food Systems
- Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN)
A coalition to promote food sovereignty and democratic decision-making on science and technology issues in order to protect the integrity of the environment, health, food, and the livelihoods of people in Canada and around the world by facilitating, informing and organizing civil society action, researching, and providing information to government for policy development. - Sustain Ontario
Sustain Ontario brings together groups working on food and agriculture issues in Southern Ontario.
Watch this video to learn about how the College of Dietitians of Ontario works in the public interest to regulate and support RDs to provide safe, ethical and competent nutrition services.