Bridging Distance, Delivering Care: Pediatric Tele-Nutrition in the Digital Health Era-A Narrative Review

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Pediatric Nutrition
• Telehealth Services

Background:

• Telehealth has revolutionized healthcare, with tele-nutrition emerging as a key digital platform for nutritional care.
• This field rapidly evolves, addressing nutritional assessment, counseling, and management via online services.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the current state of pediatric tele-nutrition services.
• Exploration of technology platforms, clinical uses, effectiveness, implementation, and future trends.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive literature search was performed across major databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Web of Science) from 2010 to 2025.
• 114 relevant sources were selected, including RCTs, observational studies, reviews, and guidelines.

Main Results:

• Pediatric tele-nutrition shows comparable outcomes to in-person care for various conditions like obesity and diabetes.
• Synchronous video consultations are the most common platform, with high family satisfaction rates (>80%).
• Key benefits include improved access and reduced family burden, while challenges involve digital equity and provider training.

Conclusions:

• Pediatric tele-nutrition is a viable model, especially for families with access barriers.
• Optimizing tele-nutrition requires focus on digital equity, training, policy, and further research.
• Future directions include AI integration and precision nutrition.