At The Centre for Family Nutrition we’re a team of experienced pediatric dietitians and moms who see families, parents and kids for one-on-one nutrition counselling, both in person and virtually. Most health benefit packages cover Registered Dietitian services. To book an appointment with us please use our appointment booking portal. It’s the quickest way for our team of dietitians to receive your request.
Lesley Langille, MS, RD
Lead Counselling Dietitian (Alberta, BC, Manitoba) Mom of Two
Feeding kids is tough work – as I mom, I understand! Although I am a pediatric dietitian, I am not immune to the picky eating frustration. I have two boys who are very different eaters – even though they are growing up in the same eating environment and exposed to the same foods. One is adventurous and eager to try new foods, while the other is cautious and takes his time – and that is okay. I am here to help them explore all food, to gain confidence in their choices, and to develop a positive relationship with food.
My education started with a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition at Acadia University. Upon graduation I completed a Master of Science in Applied Human Nutrition at Mount Saint Vincent University with an integrated dietetic internship education program. As a regulated health professional and member of the College of Dietitians of Alberta since 2013, I am continually learning as the nutrition research grows. Before focusing on pediatric and family nutrition, I practiced in the areas of chronic disease prevention and healthy weight loss.
My passion in pediatric nutrition is in picky eating and adolescent nutrition (although I love the joy of starting solids). What I love most about counselling nutrition is supporting busy parents (and kids) in their feeding goals – whether they are reducing stress at mealtimes, helping to expand food variety, or discovering how to support a healthy long-term relationship with food.
When not working or driving my minivan all around town I can be found building LEGO towers with my kids, going on family adventures or pouring another coffee!
Jessica Ferris, RD
Registered Dietitian, Counselling Dietitian Eastern Canada (Ontario, Maritimes)
My many experiences as a child and as a mom has helped to shape my desire to help others create healthy families from the beginning. As a busy mom of three boys, I understand the many barriers and challenges to feeding a family because I get challenged too. I strive to help families create a healthy foundation for feeding that supports our children to grow and become healthy adults with a healthy relationship with food.
I obtained my bachelor’s degree from Brescia University College and completed my accredited internship with the Northern Ontario Dietetic Internship program. My career started in homecare where I practiced for 10 years seeing both adults and then paediatrics in combination with running a paediatric private practice for 5 years. I have supported families with feeding their children from infancy to school-age, working through growth concerns, introducing solids, picky eating, expanding food variety, and more complex feeding concerns. I am beyond excited to join the team at The Centre for Family Nutrition to provide nutrition counselling in pediatrics and family nutrition. While considering what we eat is important, I feel what is equally important is how we feed ourselves and our children. I look forward to supporting families in their feeding journeys wherever it may lead!
When time frees up on this crazy but fun parenting journey you can find me meal prepping the next batch of snacks, or trying to carve out some time for myself to move my body either with or without my crew! As a family we love Friday night movie nights, biking around the neighbourhood and getting outside and hiking local trails to explore all that nature has to offer.
Susan Sommerville
RD, Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, Consulting Dietitian, Mom of Two
I am a mom of two very different, enthusiastic and sweet toddlers. When my son was born, my life changed forever. But it wasn’t until my daughter was born that I received an in-depth education on the many trials and tribulations that feeding your baby can come with! Two very different babies, and way too much love for them both. My experience as new mom has fuelled my passion to learn about and spread knowledge on how to feed our children with kindness, compassion, and responsivity.
I completed my Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Food Sciences and Integrated Dietetic Internship at the University of Alberta. I completed a physical education minor to fuel my interest in human physiology and adaptation to exercise!
Before my focus on pediatric nutrition, I started my journey as a Dietitian with the focus on balanced eating and chronic disease prevention. My main areas of practice included gut health, chronic disease management and sport nutrition, all with the goal of helping my clients nurture a healthy relationship with food. After having children my interest naturally shifted towards infant and child nutrition. Starting solids and baby-led weaning is a beautiful opportunity to strengthen a positive feeding relationship between babies and their care givers. An area I love to research and blog about!
I’m a member of the College of Dietitians of Alberta and am a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor. I am passionate about educating parents and supporting children to embrace and lean into their natural body cues, to help strengthen interoceptive awareness around feeding their bodies. We are born intuitive eaters! My goal is to allow children to continue with their natural attunement to their bodies needs, while challenging deep rooted family beliefs, thoughts and rules about food.
My hobbies as a mom of two include going for nature walks with my husband and kids, and cooking creative meals for my family to try. In my free time I enjoy yoga, biking and an occasional glass of Sangria!
Amanda Hamel
RD, Social Media/Web Strategist
Amanda is a Registered Dietitian and a Social Media/Web Strategist for The Centre For Family Nutrition.
Her love for helping others behind-the-scenes began in 2012 as a website administrator for various volunteer groups. It brings her great joy to help fellow dietitians grow their outreach in a collaborative effort to raise the profile of dietitians.
In her daytime job, Amanda works for Nüton Nutrition Education in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her goal is to help teachers make a difference in the lives of their students through building a healthy relationship with food and their bodies.
Jennica Willis
Office Manager, Business Strategist and marketing/communications
Jennica is excited to be joining Sarah Remmer and her team and brings with her a background in marketing and communications management. Jennica graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and a Digital Arts Certificate. Since then she has worked in non-profit marketing and communications, dance school management and most recently as a newborn, family and brand photographer. She is a lifelong learner and enjoys expanding her skills and knowledge on a regular basis.
Jennica believes in giving back has spent the last few years volunteering with the Alberta Children’s hospital and with the Small + Mighty project providing professional newborn photography to families with extended NICU stays.
She has two children of her own and knows first-hand the challenges of picky eating and the dinner time struggles it creates. She is excited to be part of a team that works to enable families to raise healthy, happy eaters.
Fatima Hussain
BScKin, MScOT
Hi! My name is Fatima Hussain and I have been an Occupational Therapist for over 5 years. I am now thrilled to be the in-house Pediatric Occupational Therapist for the Centre for Family Nutrition!
I strongly advocate for creating positive and healthy relationships around mealtimes and support children and their families to feel empowered with their feeding therapy. I provide supports for concerns with textures and oral sensitivities as well as therapy for oral-motor challenges. I look forward to supporting you and your family on your feeding journey!
I completed both my undergraduate degree in Kinesiology and my Masters degree in Occupational Therapy at the University of Alberta. I have also taken further training with the Beckman Oral Motor Protocol, the Pediatric Feeding Institute and Talk Tools Oral Placement Therapy. My experience, passion, skill set has led me to specialize my practice to work with children of all abilities in their homes, schools and community settings. As an Occupational Therapist, I have found that concerns around feeding and swallowing have had a huge impact on all aspects of the lives of the children and families I work with. It affects family relationships, social skills, academics, sleep and gut health.
Jillian Taylor
Registered Psychologist (Alberta and Ontario)
Hello! My name is Jillian Taylor. I am a registered psychologist and founder of Align Psychology, a virtual therapy private practice. As a mother to three little ones, I understand the complexity of supporting our children’s physical and emotional well-being. I am right there with you in navigating nutrition, establishing positive meal times, creating a healthy relationship with food while also encouraging positive body image. I believe that all parents are doing the best they can to support the well-being of their children and at the same time it can be incredibly overwhelming to know what to do and how to do it. Add in our own history and experiences with food and body image and it can be quite challenging.
As a psychologist, I can help individuals and families in a variety of ways. Sometimes parents are interested in unpacking their own experiences and beliefs around food and body image in order to support their children. Other times parents are focused on how to support and role model for their children. Additionally, some families seek family therapy to address disordered eating, eating disorders, or body image struggles with their adolescent. My approach is gentle, collaborative, exploratory and rooted in intuitive eating principles, anti-diet and a weight neutral/Health at Every Size (HAES) approach. If you think you and your family may benefit from exploring this further, feel free to book a session or a free 15 minute consultation to see if we could be a good fit.
Follow me on Instagram: @align.psychology
Booking link: https://alignpsych.janeapp.com/
