[A review of methods for organizing nutritional education for hospitalized patients]

Diet-related diseases are diagnosed very frequently among inpatients and result in high mortality rate. Most commonly, the severity of illness or poor prognosis can be reduced or diminish by change of the lifestyle or simply-eating behavior. Across many countries there is conducted research of nutrition education potentials. It is usually applied to patients during their staying in hospital and after. A review of methods of nutrition education for hospitalised patients was done. The methods can be classified into three categories: instructional, motivational and behavioral. The effectiveness of the methods was the main concern. There were two major ways to evaluate this effectiveness: direct approach (laboratory or anthropometry tests) and indirect approach (questionnaires, food diary). An advantage of nutrition education providers' employment was discussed. Many studies show that nutrition education is an effective method in secondary prevention of diet-related diseases. It is promising to disseminate these kind of efforts in Poland.