Nutritional support at home and in the community

Technical developments in feeding, together with the growth of support structures in the community has lead to a steady increase in the number of children receiving home enteral tube feeding and home parenteral nutrition. In many cases the adverse nutritional consequences of disease can be ameliorated or prevented, and long term parenteral nutrition represents a life saving intervention. Careful follow up of children receiving home nutritional therapy is necessary to establish the ratio of risks to benefits. A considerable burden is sometimes placed on family or other carers who therefore require adequate training and ongoing support. The respective responsibilities of different agencies relating to funding and support tasks require more clear definition.