Meet Pooja Marathe, a paediatric nutritionist, who has her own independent practice in Hyderabad for the past 8 years. She is also a consulting nutritionist at the Rainbow Children’s Hospital in Hyderabad. Pooja is a blogger on the website called Momspresso where she writes about basic principles of food and theories evolving around them. Always ready to learn new skills and expand her horizons, she believes that with enough zeal, one can always manage to be successful on all fronts.
Here is a summary of my discussion with Pooja about her work in general.
As Paediatric Nutritionist, what exactly do you do?
As a paediatric nutritionist, my main responsibilities include understanding the psychology of the child as well as the parents. I first make an effort to understand why the is child a fussy eater or lacks nutrition. Often, I realise that the parents want to feed the child in a specific way, which may or may not be suitable for the child. I also need to make the child feel as comfortable as possible, to ensure that the child develops trust in me, not only as a doctor, but also as a friend. I focus on the quality of nutrients more than the quantity and advise parents to engage their kid in active sports and extra-curricular. My remedies consist mostly of home foods. Currently, my approach towards nutrition is that home food is better suited to a child’s body and growth, rather than processed food or supplements.
Tell us a little about your education and how you became a paediatric nutritionist?
I have a bachelor’s degree in Home Science that I did from SNDT University in Mumbai. During my graduation in Home Science, I realised that Nutrition was the field that I wanted to explore. So after graduation, I completed my Master’s in Nutrition (M.Sc. Nutrition) from the National Institute of Hotel Management, Delhi. I chose paediatrics because of its friendly nature, the fact that I get the opportunity to interact with kids on a daily basis and make them happy. I also have a MBA in Food Business Management from Pune University. I believe in constant learning. I have currently taken up International Certification in Advanced Lactation education. I feel that it will help me connect with new born babies and their mothers better. I have been taking up a number of certificate courses to enhance myself as a person and a paediatric nutritionist.
What kind of problems do you most commonly deal with your work?
Child nutrition is complicated. It has various categories of ages. So every age group has to be treated differently and their nutrition varies accordingly. It starts from new born babies and goes upto pre-adolescent children. Gender also plays a vital role; girls and boys are built differently. Parents fail to understand this and convincing them is the most difficult part. Balancing nutrition and immunity is important. Balancing the equation between nourishment and activity of a child is what a nutritionist faces a lot of challenges in.
I hope to see my patients full of joy. My aim is to see kids happy and parents a little less troubled about how their children are growing.
How does being an paediatric nutritionist affect your general lifestyle?
Whenever I’m at work, I’m at work. At that time, it helps that I’m in a happy work mind frame. I want the parents of the children who visit me, to leave the clinic without any worries and the children to have a smile on their face. At home, I have two toddlers who are very proactive and demand a variety of food. I try to experiment with the food and gauge their reaction, learning at every step. This helps me a lot as I can use this knowledge when I’m at work. I’m active on social media as I believe that I’m a small, significant influence on other’s life, through the knowledge or science I share.
What advice would do you give to someone who wishes to follow this path?
If you want to follow a path, you need zeal and the will to learn. Largely, you also have to be a foodie, loving food by all means. The reason behind it is that, without the experimentation, you fail to understand the technicalities. You need to understand the calories and how food is prepared. It is only through passion for food that you understand how important the job is.
You can follow Pooja’s at
Blogs on: Momspresso
Website: http://www.wecanourish.com/
Instagram: poojamarathe11, wecanourish
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pooja-marathe-b7a9b927/
Nidhi is a 20 year old ambivert who completed her schooling from Nath Valley School, Aurangabad. In 2018, she joined the MIT School of Fine Arts and Applied Arts in Pune to pursue her BFA in Applied Arts and Visual Communication. She has a soft spot for reading, writing, and travel. Helping others find their true passion, is one of her interests. As a writer on Careerfox, she intends to interview professionals from diverse career backgrounds and blog about them. She believes that this would not only nurture her love for writing, but also would help youngsters make more informed career choices.