Practising at
Mr Chris Smith
Paediatric Dietitian
BSc (Hons)
"The environment for paediatric patients is excellent with friendly staff and great facilities."
Specialises in
Chris Smith has been working as a dietitian for over 15 years, specialising in paediatrics for 13 years. He currently specialises in infant nutrition and growth, gastroenterology conditions and cystic fibrosis. Working in a busy NHS Children's Hospital gives Chris a huge experience of many paediatric conditions and their impact on nutrition and successful interventions. The opportunities Chris has had to lecture on nutrition and growth in many international locations over the last 10 years have also given him an appreciation of the importance of good nutrition in both unwell and healthy children in many environments and situations.
Chris specialises in infant and child nutrition with specific interest in growth and nutrition in the first year of life, feeding disorders in children and infants, allergic conditions and dietary restrictions. Chris also has specific interests in GI conditions in children including reflux, Crohn's disease, IBD and coeliac disease.
In addition to his clinical work Chris supports two paediatric charity organisations with strong links to nutrition conditions. The first is CFEurope, a pan European charity aiming to improve education and care to Cystic Fibrosis children in parts of Europe where resources may be more limited. Chris has visited and worked in many countries with this charity over the last 5 years, providing education and representing nutrition interests on behalf of the charity at government meetings to support policy change. These countries include Romania, Latvia, Estonia and Bulgaria. The second charity is the UK Prader Willi Association (PSWA) where Chris has been a dietetic advisor for over 7 years. He has produced the nutrition support literature for this charity as well as speaking regularly at their national conferences.
Chris is also a regular guest lecturer at the University of Surrey on the Nutrition and Dietetics degree course. He has authored several chapters in nutrition textbooks. Chris also lectures internationally for several nutrition companies and has lectured on infant and child nutrition in Helsinki 2007, Berlin 2008, Prague 2008, Budapest 2009, Rome 2009, Dublin 2010, China 2013/2015/2016/2017, Indonesia 2014, Switzerland 2015, Amsterdam 2016.
Chris has a strong interest in research and most recently published a study in Clinical Nutrition in 2017. In 2012 Chris led the collation of a European wide audit of CF dietetic practice with a data cohort of >7000 patients from 10 countries. Chris has represented many of his own research works at European conference level including ESPGHAN (2017, 2015, 2013, 2012) and ECFS (2012, 2009). Since setting up the Nutritional Clinical Investigation Unit in 2014 at the Children's Hospital his current projects focus on assessment of body composition, indirect calorimetry and intake composition analysis. His work from this unit won the abstract prize at 2017 national BSPGHAN conference.
Treatment information
Some of the principal treatments carried out by Mr Chris Smith at Spire include:
Dietetics
Other treatments
Nutrition - assessment, dietary management of allergic conditions, faltering growth, feeding problems
Get in touch
Important information about COVID-19 tests
COVID-19 testing or antibody tests are not available as a standalone service at Spire Gatwick Park Hospital.
Additional information
Clinical interests
Allergy
Nutrition
Paediatric gastroenterology
Dietetics
Qualification and professional memberships
BSc (Hons) / University of Surrey / 2002
Bachelor of Science - Nutrition and Dietetics
A degree in Dietetics, along with registration to professional regulator bodies allows practice as a dietitian.
Professional memberships
Member of the Health and Care Professions Council - HCPC
Member of the British Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition - BSPGHAN
Member of the European Cystic Fibrosis Society
Professional leadership
Clinical Lead for Acute Paediatric Dietetics - Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital
Co-Chair of the European Cystic Fibrosis Society Nutrition Group
Scientific Committee Reviewer for the European Cystic Fibrosis Society
Associates Committee for the British Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (BSPGHAN)
Research and publications
Chris contributes to the Journal of Cystic Fibrosis as a reviewer.
Articles
Improved growth, tolerance and intake with an extensively hydrolysed peptide feed in infants with complex disease. C Smith, H McCabe, S Macdonald, L Morrison, R Prigg, S Trace, J Livingstone, J Callan, J Cotton, G Hubbard, RJ Stratton. Clin Nutr. April 2017
A fat lot of good: Balance and trends in fat intake in children with cystic fibrosis. C Smith, A Winn, P Seddon, S Ranganathan. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis, Volume 11, Issue 2, March 2012, Pages 154-157
Current NHS posts
Senior Paediatric Dietitian, Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital, Brighton
Personal profile
In his spare time Chis runs a taxi service for his 2 children. Chris and his wife are as proud as any parents of their family and they are at their happiest when spending time all together.
Contact information
| Telephone | 01293 778 906 |
| Website | www.paediatricgutinvestigation.co.uk |