Nutritional assessment is among the processes that enable medical practitioners to deliver tailored and highly effective interventions. When they conduct the assessment, the practitioners are able to gain insights into such issues as the eating habits as well as the lifestyles of their clients. Furthermore, the assessment helps to shed light on problem areas that should be addressed to promote wellbeing and proper nutrition. As part of personal efforts to show the role that data plays, a nutritional assessment of two members of a family was conducted. The assessment yielded data that can inform the design of nutritional plans.
As noted above, the assessment involved two members of the same family. One was 14 while the second was 27 years old. Both objective and subjective data was collected during the assessment. Height, weight, waist circumference and medical history are the primary objective elements that constituted the assessment. On the one hand, the 14 year old weighed 1.75 meters and weighed 132 pounds. His waist line was measured at 29 inches. His medical history revealed that over the past five years, he had not experienced any serious illness that would impact his nutrition. The objective elements are important because they allow for comparisons and can be used to calculate such measures as the Body Mass Index (Barbosa-Silva, 2008). For instance, suppose that it had been determined that this individual’s BMI was dangerously high, urgent measures would be needed to protect him against conditions like Diabetes which have been blamed on obesity. On the other hand, the 27 year old was 1.83 meters tall and weighed 176 pounds. He had a 34-inch waistline and his medical history showed that he is receiving treatment for Diabetes. Furthermore, this individual shared that his waist line had increased dramatically. Over a two-year period, the circumference of his waist had risen from 31 to 34 inches. This increase is worrying and could suggest that his eating habits are unhealthy. All the objective elements indicated that both individuals are within healthy ranges and that no drastic interventions are necessary.
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In addition to the objective elements, the assessment also involved subjective data. Among the subjective elements considered include color and condition of the skin, quality and amount of sleep, frequency of meals, types of foods consumed, level of physical exercise, functional impairments such as difficulty in walking, the presence of gastrointestinal symptoms and signs of muscle wasting. According to Secker, and Jeejeebhoy (2012), these are some of the elements that practitioners should include in their assessment particularly when working with children. The subjective elements did not reveal any issues that should cause concern. However, the 27-year old shared that his diabetes had made his walking difficult and that much of the food that he consumed was of the fast type. Furthermore, this individual complained of belching and flatulence combined with nausea after eating spicy and fatty foods. While not necessarily alarming, these symptoms warrant further investigation. The 14-year old individual also shared information that highlights the need for nutrition-based intervention. When he was 12, following a long illness, he experienced muscle wasting from which he is yet to fully recover. Additionally, his skin was worryingly pale and dry and he complained that he was unable to experience quality sleep. What was puzzling is that the foods that he consumed were healthy and balanced.
With the data obtained from the assessment, it should be possible to develop nutritional and treatment plans for the two individuals. This exercise has shed light on the need for practitioners to work closely with patients to develop appropriate nutritional interventions. It is important for the practitioners to engage their patients so as to identify challenges and design solutions. As they conduct assessments, they should give special attention to subjective elements which can provide valuable insights.
References
Barbosa-Silva, M. G. G. (2008). Subjective and objective nutritional assessment methods: what do they really assess? Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care, 11 (3), 248-54.
Secker, D. J., & Jeejeebhoy, K. N. (2012). How to perform subjective global nutritional assessment in children. Research and Practice Innovations. doi: 10.1016/j.jada.2011.08.039
