CARE OF PATIENT WITH

ANOREXIA
Anorexia nervosa is a chronic and severe disorder
with a high incidence of morbidity and mortality.
Individual who have anorexia nervosa
• Fear of obesity
• Have disturbed perception of their own body
image
• Suffer significant weight loss
• Refuse to maintain normal body weight
• Signs and symptoms
• Weight loss
• Refusal to eat
• Appetite loss
• Fear of becoming obese
• Self induced vomiting
• Difficulty in swallowing
• Use of laxatives
• Constipation
Role of nurse
• DO’S
• Review the patient’s medical records for risk
factors for dysphagia
Factors affecting nutritional needs
• A person dietary pattern is usually slow to
change because food habits are deeply rooted
in the past. Food choice have always been
influenced by non nutritional factors including
religious taboos, ethnicity, gender roles and
social status.
1. physiologic and physical status
• Throughout the life cycle, the nutrient needs
keep changing in relation to growth,
development, activity and age related change
in metabolism and body composition. Periods
of intense growth such as infancy, adolescense
, pregnancy and lactation cause increased
nutrient needs.
2. socio cultural and psychosocial factors.
• Dietary choices or restriction are also
influenced by culture, religion and personal
feelings and meanings associated with food.
• Emotional status such as boredom, anger,
depression or loneliness, stress can influence
the quality of food eaten. Emotions can lead to
under eating or overeating. Emotions can also
influenced poor eating habits.
3. religion
• Dietary restrictions associated with religion might
affect a client’s nutritional requirements.
4. economics
• The adequacy of a person’s food budget affects
dietary choices and patterns. The increasing cost
of food coupled with limited purchasing power
may result in a decrease in the nutritional quality
of the diet.
5.Culture

• Culture influences what is eaten, how it is prepared and what

combination of food are permitted. The variation in food
choice within culture also depends on the income levels and
availability of food.

6. lifestyle factors.

• lifestyle factors are closely related to food habits.

 Factors affecting nutritional intake
• Decreased food intake
• Anorexia
• Psychosocial causes such as fear, anxiety, depression and pain
• Impaired ability to smell or taste.
• Due to drug therapy
• Difficulty in chewing and swallowing
• Chronic GI problem
• Undergo surgical procedure
• Inadequate budget
• Belief
• Beauty consciousness
Increased food intake
• Due to medical condition
• General assessment of nutritional status
• The components of nutritional assessment
include, health history(including diet history),
evaluation of food intake, physical examination
and diagnostic tests.
• In order to carry out this assessment, a
registered dietician is contacted. The various
methods used to take dietary history are as
follows.
• 1. 24 hour recall method.
• 2. food adequacy questionare
• 3.