Nutritional status (reading part 1)

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The role of a dietitian involves, among others, objective and precise assessment of the patient's nutritional status with reference to food intake. Nutritional status refers to an individual's health status resulting from: dietary pattern, absorption and usage of nutrients, as well as the influence of pathological factors which determine these processes.

Nutritional status can be examined with the use of many tools. Some of them are useful in creating national health programs by identifying nutritional problems like: inadequate or excessive intake of chosen food groups that can lead to malnutrition, obesity, sarcopenia or anemia. Validated screening tools and different "ABCD" methods (“ABCD” stands for anthropometric, biochemical, clinical and dietary) are performed to gather data necessary to assess not only the nutritional status of an individual but also of groups and populations in order to develop effective educational programs for nutrition and health prophylaxis.