Maximizing your "nutrition minute": Bridging nutritional gaps across the life span

Poor diet quality has been associated with increased mortality and an increased risk of chronic disease. Given the shortfalls in the typical American diet and the prevalence of nutrition-related chronic disease among US adults, the need for nutrition education is paramount. Nurse practitioners (NPs) are well placed to provide basic nutrition counseling but often face challenges to making this a reality. In a typical office visit, the time available to discuss diet and nutrition can be as little as one minute or less.

Nutritional issues of concern facing specific age and risk groups are reviewed. The "Nutrition Minute," a tool comprising 5 questions that enable NPs to identify patients at higher risk of nutritional shortfalls, has been developed.

Nutrition counseling includes discussion of not only fat, carbohydrate, and protein intake, but also micronutrient intake. Although a food-first approach to nutrition is preferred, nutritional shortfalls exist even in the best diets. Supplementation with a multivitamin is an effective approach to bridge many nutritional gaps and can be recommended for many patients with poor diet quality. In addition to shortfalls apparent from a patient's diet, nutritional needs change across the life span (e.g., women of childbearing age and older persons) and in those with certain medical conditions such as diabetes and obesity.

Although NPs clearly have an important role to play in the nutrition management of many patients, they should work in collaboration with registered dietitians wherever possible, especially for medical nutrition therapy in those patients needing specialist counseling, such as those with diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and renal disease.