Tube Fed Kids Deserve to Eat

Tube Wean NZ, along with parents, families and supporters will be gathering at Parliament tomorrow (Thursday 20 March) at 10.30 am, to hand over a petition with nearly 4,000 signatures.

The petition calls on the Government to allocate funding specifically aimed at supporting families leaving hospital with a tube fed child, to urgently recognise feeding tube dependency as a condition which needs effective treatment and to establish a weaning clinic for children who need one.

“We are advocating for children who don’t have a voice,” said Tube Wean NZ spokeswoman Jody Anderson. “Every child deserves to eat and drink for themselves if this is possible for them.”

Jody Anderson said that no rapid weaning clinics are available in New Zealand, and there were no protocols in place for getting a tube fed child to become an eating child.

“Tube Wean NZ is advocating for all tube fed children nationwide,” she said. “The lack of effective support for tube fed children and their families in New Zealand has forced us to set up Tube Wean NZ.”

Jody Anderson said tube feeding was currently costing tax-payers millions of dollars a year to pay for equipment and specialised formulas for around 600 tube fed children in New Zealand.

“Many of these children would become oral feeders if the right support was in place,” she said. “This would be a win-win, saving tax-payers money and improving the quality of life for the children and families involved.”

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