The benefits of blended diet to the patient and caregiver are clear and the supportive research around this is growing.1-3 However, for paediatric dietitians, the growing trend of blended diet presents many challenges that we have to overcome to ensure we provide the best and safe care for our patients.

There is no doubt that blended diet is growing in popularity and is now being offered to a large number of children and young people, with requests for supporting patients now coming from all members of the multidisciplinary team.

The term ‘blended diet’ can be applied to blended, blenderised or liquidised food, which includes the application of real solid food being blended to an appropriate consistency and administered via a young person’s gastrostomy feeding tube. This can be done alongside commercial formula or as an exclusive feed plan.

Surveys by Armstrong et al (2017) and Johnston et al (2015) both concluded that around half of the patients on responding dietitians’ caseloads were receiving some amount of blended diet via their gastrostomy.0 At this point, dietetic knowledge was limited and parents often were supporting each other through social media groups.