 Nutrition assessment is a comprehensive evaluation carried out by a registered dietitian for defining nutrition status using -medical, social, nutritional, and medication histories,physical examination, anthropometric measurements and laboratory data  The purpose of assessment is to gather adequate information in which to make a professional judgment about nutrition status

The goals of nutrition assessment are to:  identify individuals who require aggressive nutrition support  restore or maintain an individual's nutrition status  identify appropriate medical nutrition therapy (MNT)  monitor the efficacy of these interventions.

 The information collected about individuals or populations is used as part of the nutrition status assessment  Frequently the information is in the form of histories- medical,social,medication, and dietary.

 The medical history usually includes the following information :  chief complaint, present and past illness  current health  allergies  past or recent surgeries  family history of disease  psychosocial data  a review of problems-by body system  These histories usually provide much insight into nutrition-related problems

 Social aspects of the medical history may also relate to nutrition status  For examples: information pertaining to socioeconomic status the individual's ability to purchase food independently whether the person is living or eating alone physical or mental handicaps smoking Drug or alcohol addiction

 Food and drugs interact in many ways that affect nutrition status and drug therapy effectiveness; thus a medication history is an important part of any nutrition assessment  Those who are older, are chronically ill, have a history of marginalor inadequate nutritional intake, or are receiving multiple drugs for a period are susceptible to drug-induced nutritional deficiencies

 Dietary intake data are assessed either by collecting retrospective intake data as with a 24-hour recall or food frequency questionnaire or summarizing prospective intake data  Each method has specific purposes, strengths' and weaknesses  T he goal is to determine the nutrient content of the food and the appropriateness of the intake for a particular individual.  The prospective method involves recording data at the time the food is consumed or shortly thereafter.

 DAILY FOOD RECORD OR DIARY  FOOD FREQUENCY QUESTIONNAIRE  TWENTY FOUR HOUR RECALL METHOD  NUTRIENT INTAKE ANALYSIS  CHECKLIST  DIET HISTORIES  OBSERVED FOOD CONSUMPTION

 A daily food record, or food diary, involves documenting dietary intake as it occurs and is often used in outpatient clinic settings.  A food record is usually most accurate if the food and amounts eaten are recorded at the time of consumption  The individual's nutrient intake is then calculated and averaged at the end of the desired period (usually 3 to 7 days) and compared with dietary reference intakes

 The food frequency questionnaire is a retrospective review of intake frequency (i.e., food consumed per day, per week, or per month)  For ease of evaluation the food frequency chart organizes foods into groups that have common nutrients.  The focus of the food frequency questionnaire is the frequency of consumption of food groups rather than of specific nutrients  During illness food consumption patterns can change, depending on the stage of illness  Therefore it is helpful to complete food frequency questionnaires for the period immediately before hospitalization and before illness to obtain a complete and accurate history

 The 24-hour recall method of data collection requires individuals to remember the specific foods and amounts of foods they consumed in the past 24 hours.  The information is then analyzed by the person or professional gathering the information.  Problems commonly associated with this method of data collection include: an inability to recall accurately the kinds and amounts of food eaten difficulty in determining whether the day being recalled represents an individual's typical intake The tendency for persons to exaggerate low intakes and under report high intakes of foods.

 A nutrient intake analysis (NIA) is also referred to as a nutrient intake record or calorie count, depending on the information collected and the analysis done.  Information about actual intake is collected through direct observation or an inventory of foods eaten based on observation of what remains on the individual's tray or plate after a meal.  Tirbe feeding, either parenteral or enteral is also recorded.

 NIAs should be recorded for at least 72 hours to reflect variations in intake that may occur from day to day  Complete records for this period usually accurately reflect ai average intake for most individuals  It should be kept in mind that eating habits or meals consumed during the weekend and during the week may differ.

 The checklist is a record to be completed for 7 days or more  The checklist method is a printed list of representative foods in which participants are asked to check off at the end of each day which foods they have eaten  Participants do not have to estimate how often food is eaten thus avoiding problem in the estimation of frequency of food consumption as in FFQ  When selecting foods, participants were asked to count half for a small portion and two for a large portion  A space was left to record foods not present on the printed list but otherwise the list was precoded for nutrient analysis

 The diet history is usually conducted by trained interviewers who record a 24 hour recall followed by more detailed information on usual food consumed, portion sizes, recipies and frequency of food consumption over the recent past  less commonly used in epidemilogical research due to the necessity for face to face interviews of upto 90 minutes but it is the most frequently used method for the assessment of diet by dietitians in the clinical context

 The most used method in clinical practice but it is recommended for research purposes  The meal eaten by the individual is weighed and contents are exactly calculated  The method is characterized by having a high degree of accuracy but expensive and needs time