Described as “academic, but warm and down to earth,” Rowell believes that establishing a healthy feeding relationship, in essence 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, and protects from the harmful impacts of diet culture.
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 foster care.
Rowell is a co-founder at Responsive Feeding Pro. RFPro is a digital learning platform for feeding professionals focused on a Responsive Feeding Therapy (RFT) framework for children with feeding and eating challenges. 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
“I get to be a mom, not a food cop. Connor now asks for seconds on veggie soups and tomatoes on his burgers, and he’s not as obsessed with treats.”
— Kelly
Speaking
Dr. Katja Rowell is a sought-after speaker whose message is based on science, but grounded in the realities of family life. From corporate lunch-and-learns to medical Grand Rounds to an international symposium on child welfare, Katja gets the word out about responsive, healthy feeding and therapies. Audiences include: foster and adoptive parents, preschool parents and staff, mental health professionals, eating disorder professionals, doctors, and more. Katja also speaks and organizes continuing education for pediatric feeding and nutrition professionals at Responsive Feeding Pro.
Contact Katja for Speaking Inquiries.
Email Katja to see if she’s the right fit and available for your educational needs. Let us know preferred dates, audience, and if you are looking for online or live.
“She’s got a knack for simplifying otherwise complicated subject matter and mixes the right amount of humor to the topic at hand making it much more relevant and accessible. She is as engaging as she is professional and has proven to be one of the best speakers we’ve worked with since the start of our education program.”
—Pablo Patino, Managing Director at Dietitian Central
“[Dr. Rowell’s] work and ideas are concrete, straightforward, and simple (if not always easy!) to implement. I love that the workshop provided strategies and techniques that are focused on the family and home life—as this is where most feeding goes on! I’ve learned from other programs how to work in sessions from a sensory perspective, but your model bridges the gap from therapy intervention to home.”
— Erin C. MOT, OTR/L on the Three Hour Workshop
