Medical Nutrition Therapy for Oral Nutrition Supplementation
- What it is
1) How will you benefit from seeing a dietitian?
You will benefit from seeing a dietitian for an oral nutrition supplementation regime to provide adequate and appropriate nutrition support when you have trouble maintaining your weight. This could be due to the following reasons:
- Poor appetite during illness or before and after a surgery
- Suffering from side effects of medical treatment e.g. medications, chemotherapy, radiation therapy etc.
- Swallowing difficulty
- Restarting on diet after a period of tube feeding
2) The objective of the medical nutrition therapy
The objective is to help you understand your condition and equip you with the relevant nutrition information to modify your diet to promote weight gain to target weight, maintain muscle mass and fat for physical function.
3) What is covered in the session?
During the consultation, the dietitian will perform a detailed nutritional assessment and collect the following information:
- Weight history
- Physical assessment of fat and muscle storage
- Change in appetite and dietary intake
- Reasons for poor oral intake
- Food intolerance
- Food preferences
The dietitian will then provide you with advice on:
- Modifying your diet to optimising your calorie, protein and other intake of essential nutrients
- Meal preparation tips suitable for your recommended diet & fluid texture
- Individualised dietary recommendations to improve your oral intake
- Recommending appropriate amount, type and frequency of nutritional supplement that is most suitable for you
Dietary intake, weight progress, fat and muscle storage will be reviewed regularly and further nutrition recommendations and relevant information will be provided accordingly.