Briefly describe each component of a nutrition assessment

Answer 1

The health history involves obtaining information about a person's history with respect to health status, socioeconomic status, drug use, and diet. The health history reflects a person's medical record and may reveal a disease that interferes with the person's ability to eat or the body's use of nutrients. The person's family history of major diseases may reveal conditions such as heart disease that have a genetic tendency to run in families. Social factors such as marital status, ethnic background, and educational level also influence food choices. A drug history can highlight potential drug-food interactions. Anthropometric measures involve such calculations as height and weight. The assessor compares a person's measurements with standards specific for gender and age or with previous measures on the same individual. The physical examination looks for clues to poor nutrition status through visual inspection of the hair, eyes, skin, posture, tongue, and fingernails. A fourth way to detect a developing deficiency, imbalance, or toxicity is to take samples of blood or urine, analyze them in the laboratory, and compare the results with normal values for a similar population. Laboratory tests are most useful in uncovering early signs of malnutrition before symptoms appear. In addition, they can confirm suspicions raised by other assessment methods.