Ashleigh Mitchell

Ashleigh is a specialist paediatric dietitian for infants, children & adolescents. She spent the last 14 years’ at The Children’s Hospital Westmead and The Sydney Children’s Hospital. As a senior paediatric dietitian, she has a broad range of skills from building confidence feeding to complex specialised diets.

As a mum of two children…

She understands the challenges of balancing busy family life, getting food on the table & meeting the ever-changing needs of young people. She knows what it is like to spend time making a meal, just for it to be called ‘yuck’ & how to respond to this. She is passionate about listening to clients & translating complex nutrition into practical strategies that meet both child and family’s needs.

As an athlete…

Ash has performed at representative level for both gymnastics and touch football. She was a gymnastics coach in her youth, understanding the commitment it takes as a child athlete and as an adult returning to representative touch football after having two kids. From junior pro and representative athletes, to weekend warriors and group exercise regulars, to the busy parents chasing kids around and trying to fit in gym session, Ash is here to help.

Her experience as a mum, paediatric dietitian and passion for sport has shaped her into an understanding professional who is here for children, their families and athletes of all ages.

To learn more about Ash, visit: https://www.nourishpaediatrics.com.au/

We assist with…

• Sports nutrition
• Nutrient deficiency eg. iron deficiency
• Fussy/selective eating
• Paediatric feeding disorders and expanding very limited food range
• Children with disability
• Supporting autistic children
• ADHD, managing appetite and growth
• Enteral feeding including formula & blenderised feeds
• Allergies eg. milk, soy, nut or egg
• Coeliac disease
• Underweight/ growth faltering, improving weight gain
• Overweight & obesity, insulin resistance- we believe in nurturing a positive relationship with food while empowering sustainable family habits
• Vegetarian & vegan diets
• Gut health & gastrointestinal disorders eg. reflux, constipation, EoE, carbohydrate intolerances (eg. lactose)
• Ketogenic diet (paediatrician/neurologist referred only)

Publications

• Co-author of the NSW Health Office of Kids and Families, Feeding Difficulties in Children: A Guide for Allied Health Professionals, Sydney 2016
• Co-author of The Greater Eastern & Southern Child Health Network (GESCHN) Paediatric Feeding Clinical Practice Guideline working party Published 2016
• Chief editor and author of additional chapters for ‘The ASIEM PKU handbook’, 2018 (Patient information handbook for management of PKU in Australia and New Zealand).
• Thompson S, Mitchell A, Dalkeith T, Collins S, Watson P, Bhattacharya K, Christodoulou J. Managing the Dietetic workload in Metabolic Disorders, Genetic Metabolic Dietitians International Conference, Arizona 2016
• Tess Stanway, Ashleigh Mitchell, Carolyn Ellaway, Kaustuv Bhattacharya, Susan Thompson Retrospective Audit of the Dietary Management of Current Patients with Glutaric Aciduria Type 1 at a Single Metabolic Centre, GMDI 2018.
• Sarah Slack, Ashleigh Mitchell, Kaustuv Bhattacharya, Susan Thompson . Addressing practicalities of Metabolic restricted diets through cooking demonstrations to children and families HGSA 2018
• Dalkeith, T; Ellaway, C; Thompson, T; Mitchell, A; Bhattacharya, K. ‘Classical’ Maple Syrup Urine Disease, lifespan median leucine levels and natural protein tolerance. HGSA 2018
• B Ryder, F Moore, A Mitchell, S Thompson, J Christodoulou, S lasubramaniam Fumarase Deficiency: A Safe and Potentially Disease Modifying Effect of High Fat/Low Carbohydrate Diet. JIMD Rep . 2018;40:77-83.
• Adams L, Selvanathan A, Batten K, van Doorn N, Thompson S, Mitchell A , Sampaio H, Dalkeith T, Russell J, Ellaway C, Farrar M, Broderick C, Bhattacharya. Diagnosis and management of children with McArdle Syndrome (GSD V) in New South Wales. JIMD Reports. 2023; 64(5): 327-336. doi:1002/jmd2.12389
• Ashleigh Price (MITCHELL)1, Andrea Kench, David Schell, Marino Festa, Kate Leutert, Shirley Seah. An audit of nutrition and barriers to optimal nutrient delivery in a tertiary paediatric intensive care unit, Auspen Conference 2013
• Andrea Kench, Ashleigh Mitchell, David Schell, Marino Festa, KateLeutert. Development and implementation of a feeding algorithm to optimize nutrition in paediatric intensive care, ANZICS conference 2014
• Kate Leutert , Andrea Kench, Ashleigh Mitchell & Tess Stanway, David Schell and Marino Festa. Improving nutritional outcomes in PICU: development and implementation of an algorithm for the establishment and tolerance assessment of continuous nasogastric feeds in PICU, Peadiatric intensive care conference Toronto 2016

Lectures and Appearances

• Speaker for Mitochondrial Foundation re; Nutrition Tips for children with Mito, 2024
• Provided paediatric nutrition lectures to Sydney (2013-2018), Wollongong (2011) and Australian Catholic University (2023) Nutrition and Dietetics students
• Lectures Junior Medical Officers on enteral feeding, common nutritional problems for children and specialised diets (2013-2023)
• Invited speaker on Glycogen Storage Disease, at National Metabolic Dietitians Meeting; “Live Life Well”, 2016 in Sydney
• Oral presentation, INFORM conference, Boston 2016, Ashleigh Mitchell, Sue Thompson, Sarah Slack, Kaustuv Bhattacharya. Nutritional management of Very long chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency