1/23/2025

Nutrition & Diet Therapy

Third Stage
Second Semester 2024-2025

Lecture One : Overview of Nutrition

Ass.Lec. Iman Hadi Auda

Ass.Lec. Maryem Jawad Abd alateef

Branch of Basic Medical Sciences

College of Nursing
University of Basrah

Basic Concepts of Nutrition

Nutrition science: comprises the body of scientific knowledge
that governs nutrient requirements for all aspects of life for
body maintenance such as growth, activity, reproduction,
and maintenance.
 Nutrition: is the result of the processes whereby the body
takes in and uses food for growth, development, and the
maintenance of health. These processes include digestion,
absorption, and metabolism.
Nutrient: a chemical substance obtained from food and
needed by the body for growth, maintenance, or repair of
tissues. Many nutrients are considered essential, the body
cannot make them and they must be obtained from food.

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Basic Concepts of Nutrition

Food: any substance taken into the body that will help to meet
the body’s needs for energy, maintenance, and growth.
Diet: refers to whatever you eat and drink each day. Thus it
includes the normal diet you consume and the diet people
consume in groups. Diet may also be modified and used for ill
persons as part of their therapy (therapeutic diets).
Optimum nutrition: the state of receiving and utilizing essential
nutrients to maintain health and well-being at the highest
possible level. It provides a reserve for the body.
Malnutrition: means an undesirable kind of nutrition leading to
ill-health. It results from a lack, excess or imbalance of nutrients
in the diet. It includes undernutrition and overnutrition.

Basic Concepts of Nutrition

Overnutrition: an excessive intake of one or more
nutrients, frequently referring to nutrients providing energy
(kcalories).
Undernutrition: is a state of an insufficient supply of
essential nutrients or a deficiency of one or more nutrients,
including nutrients providing energy (calories).
Health: the state of complete physical, mental, and social
well-being; not merely the absence of disease and
infirmity.
Wellness: integrates body, mind, and spirit should be the
main goal in life.

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Basic Concepts of Nutrition

Nutritional status: One’s physical condition as determined by
the diet or condition of the body as it relates to the
consumption and utilization of food.
Good nutritional status: intake of a balanced diet containing
all the essential nutrients to meet the body’s requirements for
energy, maintenance, and growth.
Poor nutritional status: an inadequate intake (or utilization) of
nutrients to meet the body’s requirements for energy,
maintenance, and growth.
Kilocalorie (kcalorie, kcal): technically correct term for unit of
energy in nutrition, equal to the amount of heat required to
raise the temperature of 1 kg of water 1°C.

Dietary Supplements: are products that contain vitamins, minerals, an herb

or other plant products, an amino acids, or a dietary substances that
supplement the diet by increasing total intake. According to scientific
evidence, some dietary supplements, such as vitamins and certain herbs,
can have beneficial effects on health. However, results of scientific testing
also indicate that many popular dietary supplements are not helpful and
may even be harmful.
Phytochemicals: chemical substances finding in some foods, particularly in
plants but that are not nutrients and having healthful benefits. Plants make
hundreds of phytochemicals (phyto=plant). Caffeine, for example, is a
phytochemical naturally made by coffee plants that has a stimulating effect
on the body. Many phytochemicals are antioxidants that may reduce risks of
heart disease and certain cancers. An antioxidant protects cells and their
components from being damaged or destroyed by exposure to certain
environmental and internal factors. Not all phytochemicals, however, have
beneficial effects on the body; some are toxic (poisonous) or can interfere
with the absorption of nutrients.

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Good nutritional status Poor nutritional status

Alert expresion Apathy
Shiny hair Dull, lifeless hair
Greasy, blemished complexion with poor
Clear complexion with good color
color
Bright, clear eyes Dull, red-rimmed eyes
Red, puffy, receding gums and missing or
Pink, firm gums and well-developed teeth
cavity-prone teeth
Firm abdomen Swollen abdomen
Firm well-developed muscles Underdeveloped, flabby muscles
Well-developed bone structure Bowed legs, “ pigeon” breast
Normal weight for height Overweight or underweight
Erect posture Slumped posture
Emotional stability Easily irritated, depressed, poor attention span
Good stamina, seldom ill Easily fatigued, frequently ill
Healthy appetite Excessive or poor appetite
Healthy, normal sleep habits Insomnia at night, fatigued during day
Normal elimination Constipation or diarrhea

Assessment of Nutritional Status

Assessment: gathering of data about a person in order to

logically identify his or her physical, psychological, social,
and economic assets and liabilities. There are four major
techniques to assess nutritional status:
1- Physical Findings: There are many clinical signs of good
and poor nutrition. Although some of these signs are not
related to a person’s nutritional status, they serve as a
general indicator of health. Data from a physical
assessment are considered objective data and helpful to
the health practitioner.

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2- Anthropometric Measurements: Assessment of growth and

development by studying anthropometric measurements (physical
measurements of the human body) provides important information
about the nutritional status of infants, children, adolescents, and
pregnant women. Standard measurements include weight, height,
head circumference, midarm circumference, chest circumference,
and skin-fold thickness.
3- Laboratory Data: Laboratory tests are generally used to determine
internal body chemistry. Although determined with great care and
accuracy, these tests are influenced by many factors and are
subject to different interpretations. The most common and useful
biochemical techniques in evaluating malnutrition employ
measurements of hemoglobin, blood cell counts (hematocrit),
nitrogen balance, and creatinine excretion. The measurements are
obtained from serum and plasma samples.

4- Diet History and Methods of Evaluating Data: The type of data

needed for health and diet history is subjective and involves
interviews and food records. The accuracy of both approaches
depends on the skill of the interviewer and the client’s memory,
perception, and cooperation. From an interview, information
can be obtained on the client’s food intake history, presence of
disorder, and drug usage. It is important that the interviewer
learn something about the client’s life and the factors that
influence his or her eating habits. Once the data are collected,
we can determine the nutrient content of the diet and evaluate
the person’s dietary intake using available references such the
Dietary Guidelines. At present this is easily done with computer
software designed for that purpose.

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Figure 1-1 Good nutrition

shows in the happy faces
of these children

Figure 1-2 The poor-quality

hair, mottled complexion,
dull expression, spindly
arms and legs, and bloated
abdomen of this baby girl
exemplify many signs of
malnutrition.

Figure 1-3 (A) Height

is one anthropometric
measurement used in
the nutrition
assessment.
(B) Weight is an
anthropometric
measurement used in
the nutrition
assessment.
(C) Head
circumference is an
anthropometric
measurement used to
assess Brain
development during
the first year of life.
(D) Skinfold is an
anthropometric
measurement used to
assess lean muscle
mass versus fat

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Major Food Groups

1- Grains: The grains group includes wheat, rice, oats, corn, barley,
and all foods made from these grains such as bread, pasta,
breakfast cereals, oatmeal, cornmeal, tortillas, and grits.
2- Vegetables: The vegetable group includes all fresh, frozen,
canned, dried vegetables and vegetable juices.
3- Fruits: The fruit group includes all fresh, frozen, canned, dried fruits
and fruit juices.
4- Milk and milk products: The milk group includes all milk types,
and their products such as yogurt, cream, and cheese.

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Major Food Groups

5- Meat and meat substitutes: Include fish, meats, poultry, and

eggs, as well as meat substitutes like dry beans, peas, nuts, and
seeds.
6- Fats and Oils: Oils and fats were obtained from many different
plants, animals and from some fish. The plant source include
corn, olive, soybean, sunflower. Some foods are naturally high
in oils such as nuts, olives, avocados, and some fish.

Major Food Groups

1- Grains
2- Vegetables
3- Fruits
4- Milk and milk
products
5- Meat and meat
substitutes
6- Fats and Oils

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Case in point: Gary fending for himself

 Gary, a 7-year-old Caucasian boy, was discovered searching a garbage can by a police
officer. The officer noticed that Gary was dirty, unkempt, and thin. His skin was pale. Gary was
taken to the police station, where he was turned over to social services. Gary told social
services that his mother had been sick and was taken to the hospital; he had not seen her for
many months. He did not know what hospital she was in, and he had been alone all this time.
He told the social worker that he had run out of food immediately after she left; he had been
able to survive by searching behind restaurants and in garbage bins. Social services brought
Gary to the local hospital, and upon examination, it was found that Gary had a distended
abdomen, serosanguinous sores on his body, and swollen and painful lower limbs. Gary
limped and found walking very tiring.
 ASSESSMENT
1. Identify three distinguishing signs of malnutrition.
2. What would you introduce first into Gary’s diet?
3. How frequently would you offer nutrition and how large a portion?
4. What other signs of malnutrition would you expect to find?
 DIAGNOSIS 5. Write a nursing diagnosis for Gary.