Nutrition Team

Members of the lab attend clinic every Wednesday at the Pediatric Infectious Disease Clinic at Shands.  While there we function as the clinic’s Nutrition Team to provide nutrition and lifestyle education to the patients, we at the same time obtain patient data for both clinical and future research purposes.  The following is a more detailed look at some of the tasks the Nutrition Team performs at clinic.

Diet Recall

A 24-hour diet recall is obtained each time a patient is seen by the Nutrition Team. The diet recall is analyzed and compared to caloric, micronutrient, and macronutrient intake recommendations for that specific patient. Each patient receives a copy of YourPlate, an analysis of their previous diet recall based on the recommendations of the USDA’s new MyPlate, and education documents specialized to meet their needs based on information provided in the Diet Recall. These data are also interpreted in the metabolic assessment. A one-week activity recall is also obtained in order to accurately assess the patient’s caloric needs by taking their expenditure into account.

Anthropometric Measurements

At each clinic visit, anthropometric measurements are taken to monitor trends in growth and body composition. The Nutrition Team measures the patient’s upper arm circumference, triceps skinfold, subscapular skinfold, umbilical circumference, umbilicus skinfold, super-iliac skinfold, mid-back skinfold, and uses a bioelectrical impedance analysis machine to measure the resistance and reactance.  These data are interpreted in the metabolic assessment and presented to the Pediatric Infectious Disease clinic staff prior to the patient’s next visit.

Education

Prior to a clinic visit, nutrition and lifestyle education documents are created for each patient. These education documents are specialized to address concerning trends detailed in the metabolic assessment, but personalized in a more presentable format for each patient.

Assessments

The metabolic assessment incorporates data obtained from the diet recall, anthropometric measurements, physical activity recall, and patient’s blood labs. Concerning trends in virology, growth, body composition, diet, insulin resistance, hematopathology, and blood pressure are analyzed in the metabolic assessment. These metabolic assessments are discussed with the clinic staff prior to the patient’s next visit and are also used to help determine what area the patient’s education needs to be focused on.