Why is a nutritional assessment important?

What is actual nutrition?

Actual nutrition is a habitual food set of a specific person, a list of food products, their culinary processing and meal regimen. A person's actual nutrition is determined by his habits, taste preferences, upbringing characteristics, national traditions, material capabilities, availability and assortment of food products.

Ensuring that actual nutrition meets the body's needs is the most crucial factor in maintaining and promoting health.

 

Why conduct a nutritional assessment?

Every second, millions of cells are destroyed in the human body and replaced by new, young and efficient cells. In order to ensure a continuous renewal process in the body, nutrients and energy are needed, which come from food.

 

Adequate, balanced nutrition ensures normal growth and development of the body, adaptability to environmental influences, maintenance of immunity, mental and physical performance. Eating disorders inevitably lead to a deficiency of some and an excess of other food components and are the basis for many diseases.

 

An assessment of actual nutrition allows us to determine the likelihood of the risk of developing nutrition-related diseases long before these diseases manifest themselves.

 

How can one assess actual nutrition?

There are various methods for assessing actual nutrition: questionnaires, keeping a food diary, the 24-hour recall method, etc. We offer a testing method using special NUTRITEST software developed by specialists at the Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.

 

The program allows for a study of a person's food consumption taking into account their individual data: weight, height, waist/hip index, calculated values ​​of the body mass index, basal metabolic rate, gender, age, work and rest schedule, differentiated for weekdays and weekends.

 

The calculation is made for the last month using a special atlas of food products, which is color photographs of food products, prepared dishes in natural size, with their corresponding weight indicated. This approach allows for a maximum reduction in the risk of inadequate assessment of one's own nutrition by the test subject.

Is such a survey accessible to a person who is not familiar with computers?

Testing is carried out with the obligatory accompaniment of a specialist from the Center and takes on average from 30 to 45 minutes, including the time for measuring height, weight, waist and hip circumference.

 

What do the test results look like?

Based on the testing results, a person's nutritional status is automatically calculated and several protocols are provided:

Basic protocol - comparison of nutrition with the healthy nutrition standard for a given person and indication of deviations of actual nutrition from the standard.

 

Protocol "Analysis of results": in graphic form on a color printer the deviation of the actual nutrition from the adequate in percentage for individual nutritional components is displayed: protein, cholesterol, dietary fiber, sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron, vitamins A, B1, B2, niacin, C, total fat, saturated fatty acids (SFA), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), omega-6 PUFA, omega-3 PUFA, added sugar, total carbohydrates.

 

Patient protocol: the risk level of diseases is determined in tabular form: obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, hypovitaminosis C, B, polyhypovitaminosis, nutritional deficiencies. Recommendations are given on changing the diet structure at the level of food products and the use of dietary supplements to food.

 
What will the results of the study show?

The results of the study will allow to reliably assess the nutritional status of a person over a fairly long period (1 month); to identify the correspondence of a person's energy expenditure with his own metabolism and the energy received with food; to identify the adequacy of the nutritional balance in numerical values, in percentage terms, the need and possibility of correction both by types of food products and by the list of basic nutritional components, to determine whether a given person has risk factors for the development of diseases associated with nutrition.

 

Conducting a thorough diet assessment is crucial in understanding an individual's nutritional status. One of the most effective tools for this purpose is the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), a well-validated method that provides a comprehensive overview of dietary intake and nutritional health.

 

The MNA is particularly useful for identifying malnutrition or the risk thereof in various populations, including the elderly. By integrating the diet assessment into routine health evaluations, healthcare providers can develop more targeted and effective nutritional interventions.

 

The Mini Nutritional Assessment offers a detailed approach to diet assessment, encompassing various parameters such as weight loss, dietary intake, and physical and mental health status. This multifaceted tool allows for a nuanced understanding of an individual's nutritional needs.

 

A complete diet assessment using the MNA can help identify specific areas where dietary modifications or supplementation might be necessary. By focusing on these areas, healthcare professionals can address potential nutritional deficiencies before they lead to more serious health issues.

 

Incorporating the Mini Nutritional Assessment into regular diet assessments is especially important in settings like nursing homes or hospitals, where residents may be at higher risk for malnutrition. The MNA's comprehensive framework ensures that all aspects of nutrition are evaluated, from caloric intake to the variety of foods consumed.

 

This holistic approach is vital for creating effective dietary plans that promote overall health and well-being. Regular diet assessment using tools like the MNA can lead to improved health outcomes and a higher quality of life for vulnerable populations.

 

Research consistently demonstrates that the Mini Nutritional Assessment is a dependable tool for evaluating diet. Studies have shown that the MNA can accurately predict malnutrition and related health complications. 

By incorporating the MNA into diet assessments, healthcare providers can make informed decisions about dietary interventions and monitor their effectiveness over time.

 

This ongoing evaluation is essential for ensuring that nutritional strategies remain effective and are adjusted as needed to meet changing health conditions. Thus, the MNA serves as an indispensable component of comprehensive diet assessment.