INDIANAPOLIS — Families grappling with the challenges of food insecurity amid managing a child’s dialysis treatment find a lifeline at the Riley Hospital dialysis-friendly food pantry. This vital service offers weekly distributions of nutritious, kidney-friendly foods to families with children undergoing dialysis.
Nutrition experts emphasize the importance of adhering to a renal diet for individuals on dialysis, necessitating strict limitations on sodium, potassium, and phosphorus intake. However, meeting these dietary requirements poses significant hurdles for families facing food insecurity.
Cassandra Erbeck, a pediatric nephrology dietitian, highlights the struggle faced by patients: “Our patients specifically are advised to avoid any of these packaged products that have phosphate-based additives, which is really challenging because these additives show up in a lot of common kid foods.”
Recognizing this dilemma, the dialysis food pantry steps in to provide fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and renal diet-safe snacks to alleviate the financial burden on families. Dr. Neha Pottanat, the Medical Director of the Riley Dialysis Unit, underscores the significance of this support: “We know that when we teach families about these diet restrictions, we are asking them to buy really expensive food… We knew we needed to do something extra to help them other than the education on what the healthy foods are, specifically giving them those healthy foods.”
A recent visit to the pantry by News 8 following a weekly food distribution revealed the high demand for these essential resources, with supplies running low, underscoring the critical need among dialysis families.
Erbeck emphasizes the importance of providing foods that meet both nutritional needs and medical dietary requirements: “These dietary requirements compound the problem food insecurity creates, so we want to be able to provide the foods that are helpful for their bodies and are compliant with their medical diet, and that’s what we’ve really done here with our food pantry.”
For Michalea Banks, whose 11-year-old son Ethan battles kidney failure, the pantry’s educational resources have proven invaluable: “Me reading and researching trying to find out what was best for him and best for us because I am not the greatest baker… A lot of the stuff has got to be fresh. So, I had to learn how to cook everything fresh.”
The pantry collaborates with the nonprofit Second Helpings to ensure shelves are stocked with renal-safe foods, extending the reach of their support network to vulnerable families.
