Dawn Kidger joins the DIS team

Dawn Kidger has joined the team at DIS as a specialist in sports and performance nutrition.

She will now be working with our athletes to help them maximise health and performance through nutrition. She is also an accredited UK anti-doping advisor.

Dawn said: “I am an advocate for clean sport and alongside delivering  nutrition education and advice I will be acting as the lead for UK anti-doping at DIS.

Dawn has more than 15 years' experience as a registered dietitian. She has had advanced training in sport and exercise nutrition and is currently an active member of the sports nutrition group committee for The British Dietetic Association. In her youth she was a keen gymnast who competed at a national level.

Early in her career, she worked as a stroke and neurological specialist dietitian.

Dawn explained: “I worked with those who had complex dietary needs as a result of degenerative neurological conditions. I then moved into the specialist area of mental health, where I have spent most of my career, working with those with mental health conditions, and in those struggling with eating disorders. “

Alongside her sports nutrition role, Dawn will continue to work with young people who struggle with disordered eating.  Dawn is registered with the health and social care professionals' council and on the national sport and exercise nutrition register (SENr) after achieving a distinction on her PG certificate for sport and exercise nutrition.

Dawn was a keen swimmer, dancer and gymnast from an early age and has fond memories of all three sports. She chose to focus on gymnastics from the age of nine.

Dawn said: “I remember my first time entering a gymnastics club, walking nervously into a large gym to perform some gymnastic moves to see if I would be accepted by the club. Thankfully, I was and spent most of my childhood and teens training as a gymnast, competing at a national level.”

This means that Dawn has a huge appreciation and understanding of the amount of time and effort athletes put into their sport.

Dawn is married with two young children who take up most of her free time. She said: “I enjoy watching Toy Story with the kids, and I can't wait to watch all of the Harry Potter movies again with them once they are old enough.”

Outside of work and family, Dawn enjoys swimming, walking and reading and hopes to return soon to a dance class that was cancelled during the pandemic.

Her favourite motivational quote is by Nikki Banas and focuses on hope:

“If you only carry one thing throughout your entire life, let it be hope. Let it be hope that better things are always ahead. Let it be hope that you can get through even the toughest of times. Let it be hope that you are stronger than any challenge that comes your way. Let it be hope that you are exactly where you are meant to be right now, and that you are on the path to where you are meant to be.... Because during these times, hope will be the very thing that carries you through.”

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