Described as “academic, but warm and down to earth,” Rowell believes that helping children do their best with eating, with a focus on HOW children are fed, is preventive medicine.
Katja Rowell, M.D. is a graduate of the University of Michigan medical school and served as a family physician in urban, rural, and university student health settings. During her time in practice, she was struck by how much suffering stems from the difficult relationships people have with food and their bodies. Responsive feeding and therapy helps children develop a healthy relationship with food and their bodies, especially if there are feeding differences or challenges.
Dr. Rowell has worked in child feeding for fifteen years. She teaches the importance of responsive feeding and therapies to parents, pediatric feeding specialists, family support specialists and childcare staff, and consults with corporate clients, nutrition education, and public health providers (and anyone who will listen!).
Rowell has a special interest in serving fostering and adopting parents as they help their children heal from food insecurity, food trauma, and more. Since 2010, she’s served on the medical advisory board of SPOON, a nonprofit supporting vulnerable children internationally, and in US child welfare system.
Rowell is a co-founder at Responsive Feeding Pro, a digital learning platform for feeding professionals focused on a Responsive Feeding Therapy (RFT) framework. Rowell is involved in academic writing, supporting related research, and teaching.
Dr. Rowell founded Family Feeding Dynamics in 2009. After hearing, “Oh, you’re the feeding doctor! What’s your website?” many times, in 2012 Katja created the more memorable, “Feeding Doctor.”
Photo by Angela Mulligan on Unsplash
