Recording and Reporting Nutritional Status and Evaluation

 

RECORDING RDING AND AN D REPORTING RECO OF NUTRITION STATUS

 

INTRODUCTION •

  Nutritional status is a requirement of health of a person the nutrients containiconvinced ng in theby b odydiet, anthe d nlevels ormalofm etabolic integrity. Normal nutritional status is managed by balance food consumption and normal utilization of  nutrients.

 

INTRODUCTION •

  As a Health Extension Practitioner you will frequently be dealing with your community’s nutr nu trit itio iona nall pr prob oble lems ms.. Us Usin ing g di difffer eren entt nu nutr trit itio iona nall assessment methods in order to assess the nutrit nutr itio iona nall sta tatu tuss of ch chil ildr dren en,, mo moth ther erss an and d ot othe herr adults living in your community.

 

RECORDING NUTRITIONAL STATUS •

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  Reco Record rdin ing g Nu Nutr trit itio iona nall as asse sess ssme ment nt us uses es th the e in inte terp rpre reta tati tion on of An Anth thrrop opom omet etri ric, c, Biochemical (laboratory), Clinical and Dietary data to determine whether a person or grou gr oups ps of peo people ple ar are e we well ll no nouri urishe shed d or ma malno lnour urish ished ed (ov (over er-no -nouri urishe shed d or un unde derr  nourished). Nutrit Nut rition ional al assess assessme ment nt ca can n be do done ne usi using ng the ABCD method methods. s. The These se re refe ferr to the following:

  A. A.An Anth thrrop opom omet etry ry - An Anth thrrop opo o me mea ans ‘human’   an and metry means ‘measurement’. Assess either growth or change in the body composition of  the people.   A nurse can use sever several al differen differentt measurements measurements including length, length, height, weight and head circumference.

 

RECORDING NUTRITIONAL STATUS •

  Mi Mid Upper Arm Circumference ( MUAC) is a good Anthropometric method screening tool that can be used in pedetermining ople living the witrisk h HofIVmortality /AIDS. Mamong UAC ichildren, s the oand nly anthropometric measure for assessing nutritional status among pregnant is also veryespecially simple forduring use in screening a largewomen. numberIt of people, community level screening for community-based nutrition interventions or during emergency situations.

 

RECORDING NUTRITIONAL STATUS

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  B.Biochemical/biophysical methods - Includes some properties of chemistry and biology to assess nutritional status.

 

RECORDING NUTRITIONAL STATUS

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  C.Clinical methods - checking signs of deficiency at specific places on the body or asking the patient whether they have any symptoms that might suggest nutrient deficiency from the patient.   Clinical signs of nutrient deficiency include: pallor (on the palm of the hand or the conjunctiva of the eye), Bitot’ss spots on the eyes, pitting oedema, goitre and Bitot’

severe visible wasting

 

RECORDING NUTRITIONAL STATUS

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  D.Dietary methods - include looking at past or current inttak in akes es of nu nutr trie ien nts fr from om foo ood d by in indi divi vidu dual alss or a group to determine their nutritional status. You can ask what the family or the mother and the child have eaten over the past 24 hours.

 

RECORDING NUTRITIONAL STATUS You can use the various methods of assessing nutr nu trit itio iona nall statu tuss di disc scus usse sed d in th this is stu tudy dy se sess ssio ion n to evaluate the nutrition status of people living in your community. Whichever measurements you are taking you should remember that it is important to follow procedures correctly and take accurate measurements that ensure the quality of data generated about the individuals you are responsible for in your community.

 

REPORTING NUTRITIONAL STATUS •

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  After recording recording all the nutritiona nutritionall status, the next next role that should be done by a nurse or a nutritionist is to gather the recordings and report it to other colleagues or appropriate person to analyze and plan immediate actions. A nurse can participate in planning as well as in implementing the strategized strategiz ed plan. plan.   All the information information gathered from from the recording recording will be stord for safe keeping to be used for statistical data.

 

EVALUATION •

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 It is being done to check and make sure that the plan that was str strategiz ategized ed previously had significant impact on the community especially its people. This is done few weeks or months after the implementaton.   A good evaluation evaluation can be be concluded once the goals tha thatt are set prior to the implementation were mostly met.   A bad evaluation shows few met goals and are mostly com omp pose sed d of unmet goal als. s. Fai ailu lurre to el elim imin ina ate th the e problem could also be a sign of a failed strategy.

 

EVALUATION •

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  Tog oget ethe herr, th the e st staf afff of th the e ho hosp spit ital al or in th the e ba barran ang gay would determine the result of the evaluation. No staff or worker should conclude it alone to avoid biases.   Th The evaluation results must be pure and honestly concluded to prevent worsening of the situation (if there are any) and also to avoid misleading data result for research purposes.