Nutrition Assessment

- one of the four components of the NCP or the nutrition care process
- it is a manner to identify if a person has a certain toxicity and/or deficiency with a
certain nutrient. This would all be with regards to their nutrition status. Would there be
underlying condition that may affected by certain conditions wherein there is a
deficiency, and/or excess in certain nutrients that we obtain from our diet and/or
introduced inside our body.
- aside from nutrition assessment, nutrition diagnosis, nutrition intervention, and nutrition
monitoring and evaluation is included in the four components of NPC
- nutrition diagnosis: from the screening of the patient, that is where we we’ll be starting.
We will be identifying what was the possible cause of the patient's condition. (ex. why
does the patient's physical characteristics are like this even when they were young?
Would be it be because of a problem from a certain type of nutrient which would be in
deficient or excess inside their body?
- nutrition intervention: after the diagnosis of the possible cause of the condition of the
patient, we deal with the proper course of treatment and therapy that should be given to
the patient. (ex. do we need to provide supplements or parental nutrition? What is
deficient in their body, should be the priority of change or rich in their diet)
- nutrition monitoring and evaluation: Even though the treatment and therapy is ongoing,
monitoring and evaluation should be conducted.

Nutrition Assessment
- just like chapter 3 and 4 of the research
- obtain, verify and interpret data
- what do we obtain: signs and symptoms presented by the patient, history
- we verify through laboratory tests
- interpretation of the data is done based on the values that was obtained from the
different measurements that was done. Then, we can infer why does the patient have
such signs and symptoms such as falling of hair, protruded eyes, patient's thin body
starting from younger years up until older ages even though they eat large sums of
food, underlying causes

DIFFERENT COMPONENTS OF NUTRITION ASSESSMENT

A-Es of Nutrition Assessment
1. A - Anthropometric or body composition measurements
2. B - Biochemical analyses
3. C - Clinical examination
4. D - Dietary analysis and assessment
5. E - Environmental assessment

A. Anthropometric Measurements
- we obtain the following:
> height and weight
> body mass index (BMI) = (it is identified after measuring height and weight. It can be
used to identify if the patient is normal, underweight or overweight/obese)
> weight history = (incorporates the physical appearance and weight from younger
years to older years. For sudden weight loss or weight gain)
> waist circumference measurement = (can be used to determine metabolic
abnormality)
- we can also obtain other parameters such as:
> skinfold thickness (SFT) - can help identify the energy stores of the patient. We
determine the presence of adipose tissue that would be sufficient for their own body
built
> hydrostatic weighing
> air-displacement plethysmography
> dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry
> bioelectrical impedance analysis

B. Biochemical Assessment/Markers
> determines the nutrients that would help in the verification. With the nutritional
assessment, there is a need to obtain, verify and identify as well as interpret data
> we conduct laboratory tests to measure the concentration of nutrients directly
Classification of Nutrients
1. Macronutrient
2. Micronutrient
> Aside from the nutrients itself, we can also utilize other substances that are produced
or found in the body fluids which could correlate with the concentration of the specific
nutrients. We could also utilize their metabolites
C. The Clinical Component
> for check ups, the doctor will assess you first before administering the laboratory test.
The nurse/physician will interview you first in the triad
- They will ask for your history, certain allergies, medications, food, family history (ex.
diabetic lineage, traits of high blood from both or either parents and more)
> the doctor will also check physically for signs and symptoms that could be utilized for
the diagnosis of the condition

Metabolic syndrome
> abnormality in the metabolic state
- the first 3 components of the nutrition assessment (A, B, C) could be utilized to identify
the metabolic syndrome
Parameters
> we cannot use the parameters solely in diagnosisng metabolic syndrome
- correlation is still needed to other components of the nutrition assessment
> Elevated glucose = > or = to 100 g/dL, their is an impairment in the metabolism of
glucose.
> High-density lipoprotein (HDL), the cut off value is 40 mg/dL. The lower the
concentration, the more prone the patient to have a heart-related type disease.
- There are instances when conducting lipid profile, its composed of total cholesterol,
HDL, LDL, VLDL and triglycerides. There would be instances that the total cholesterol of
the patient would be normal that doesn't mean healthiness. Total cholesterol is the sum
of VLDL, HDL and LDL.
- ex. if Total cholesterol is normal but your HDL is low, your triglycerides and LDL are
high, there is a chance that you can develop certain heart problems

D. Dietary Component
> For a specific type of nutrient, regardless of its type (macro or micro), we have RDA or
recommended dietary allowance and DI or Dietary Intake. Anything less or in excess
could have a certain effect to our body.
- depending on the age, gender, level of physical activity, and particular health
conditions their body's requirement for certain nutrients may vary
E. Environmental Assessment
> We assess the capability or ability or a certain individual as well as their access to
certain types of food