Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Adoption and maintenance of a Mediterranean diet in patients with coronary heart disease from a Northern European population: a pilot randomised trial of different methods of delivering Mediterranean diet advice.
A Mediterranean diet has been shown to protect against coronary heart disease (CHD). Adherence to a Mediterranean diet can be assessed using a Mediterranean diet score. The primary aim of this pilot study was to examine whether CHD patients in a Northern European population would adopt and maintain a Mediterranean diet, with a secondary aim of comparing the effectiveness of different methodologies aimed at improving compliance. ⋯ All three groups made dietary changes towards a Mediterranean diet, but behavioural counselling did not have significant additional benefit over nutritional counselling in initiating and maintaining dietary change, and neither method offering specific Mediterranean diet advice had any significant benefit in terms of improvement in MDS over conventional dietetic practice.
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Studies have shown that feeding protocols may assist in achieving optimal nutritional care in critically ill children. The present study aimed to assess the impact of enteral feeding protocols on nutritional support practices through a continuous auditing process over a defined period. ⋯ The present study demonstrates that feeding protocols improve nutritional practices in a paediatric intensive care unit. However, protocol introduction needs to be monitored regularly through audit.
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Catabolism and lean body mass losses in severe burn injury present an extreme challenge to the dietitian. A high level of nutritional intervention is often required, but service levels have not been described in the UK. This study aimed to identify levels of current dietetic services with respect to burns and to assess adequacy against existing nutrition support standards. ⋯ Compared to national guidelines for nutrition support, deficiencies of dietetic service provision exist within UK burns settings. This is further reinforced when practice is compared with existing multi-professional burns management standards.
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Little is known about how dietitians conduct their communication with individual patients in the process of nutrition education. To study this issue, both practitioners' and patients' perceptions of dietitians' skills were examined in the first phase of a two-phase study. The resulting narratives were used to develop a questionnaire to survey Australian dietitians involved in clinical practice. ⋯ An understanding of this guide to communication practice might help enhance dietitian-patient relations.
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Regular seafood consumption is recommended in dietary guidelines. The aim of this study was to investigate the importance of seafood as a nutrient source in adolescents' diet and the extent to which seafood consumption can increase the intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin D. ⋯ Flemish adolescents would benefit from increased seafood consumption, as this would lead to a higher intake of EPA and DHA as well as of vitamin D. Moreover, replacement of foods rich in saturated fat (SFA) by seafood products can help to reduce SFA intake.