FACTORS INFLUENCING HEALTH

These nutrients are divided into two groups according to the daily allowances that each individual needs to take in. These are the macronutrients, which need to be taken in relatively high quantities, and the micronutrients, which are needed in smaller quantities.

Macronutrients

"Macro" refers to huge, and these are the nutrients that humans require on a regular basis and in a rather substantial quantity. They consist of water, fiber, proteins, lipids, and carbs. These materials are required for development, energy production, metabolism, and other bodily processes.

The process of producing energy and all the "building blocks" needed to keep the body and its functions functioning is known as metabolism.

Micronutrients

Micronutrients are, as their name suggests ('micro' means small), chemicals that humans require in very minute amounts in their diet. These consist of vitamins and minerals.

Even though most foods are nutrient mixes, many of them have high concentrations of one nutrient and low concentrations of the others. Foods are frequently categorized based on the number of nutrients they contain (Nutrition Module: 2. Nutrients and Their Sources: View as Single Page | OLCreate, n.d.).

High-protein foods are also referred to as growth foods or body-building foods. Foods that are high in fat or carbs and possibly low in protein are referred to as energy-giving foods.

Foods classified as protective foods have vitamins or minerals as their primary nutrients (Nutrition Module: 2. Nutrients and Their Sources: View as Single Page | OLCreate, n.d.).

The World Health Organization (WHO) regards nutrition as the primary lifestyle component that might prevent chronic diseases, and emphasizes the significance of comprehending its intricacies and correlation with chronic illnesses (10). The World Health Organization (WHO) lists physical inactivity, smoking, and increased alcohol intake as significant behavioral risk factors for chronic diseases in addition to an unhealthy diet (Gherasim et al., 2020).

An evaluation of the general food intake of the population becomes crucial because eating is one of the modifiable behaviors that can help lower cardio-metabolic risk and prevent chronic diseases.

In contrast to traditional nutritional epidemiology methodologies, the lifestyle pattern approach offers a comprehensive representation when examining the risk variables leading to the development of chronic non-communicable diseases. Rather of focusing on a single lifestyle element (nutrition, exercise, smoking, alcohol intake, and sleep) and its correlation with health or disease, this method investigates the complete living pattern and potential interactions among these several lifestyle components. Therefore, rather than focusing on each individual element, a lifestyle pattern is distinguished as a dynamic interplay between factors. Therefore, a lifestyle pattern's effects on cardio-metabolic health would be greater than the effects of its constituent parts (diet, exercise, alcohol, smoking, and sleep), making it possible to find additional connections and real-world consequences (Gherasim et al., 2020).

It is necessary to conduct a thorough, multifaceted assessment of a patient's nutritional state. It is important to distinguish between nutritional screening and a thorough nutritional assessment. The purpose of nutritional screening is to promptly detect people who may become malnourished (Gherasim et al., 2020).

For instance, the micro nutritional assessment (MNA) is used to identify patients who may be at risk of malnutrition in the senior patient group. This screening tool is a questionnaire with a scoring system to help identify those who may be at risk. In contrast, patients who have already been identified as being at nutritional risk undergo a thorough nutritional assessment to determine their current nutritional status. Through nutritional assessment, medical professionals can systematically evaluate patients' overall nutritional state, diagnose malnutrition, pinpoint underlying diseases that contribute to malnutrition, and develop the appropriate treatment plans (Kesari & Noel, 2023).

Overcoming limitations of relying on one type of nutritional assessment

Rising rates of overweight and obesity are accompanied with high rates of malnutrition in a growing number of low-income countries (LICs). Effective responses require individual-level nutrition data, yet there is still a severe lack of dietary data from large-scale surveys carried out in LICs.

Clinical, anthropometric, laboratory-biochemical, and dietary observations serve as the foundation for nutritional evaluation techniques. When interpreting nutritional assessment results correctly, other factors typically need to be considered, including socioeconomic position, cultural practices, health, and vital statistics (which are ecological factors).

The human body's contentment with nutrients and protective chemicals is reflected in its physical attributes, physiological features, biochemical makeup, functional capacity, and overall health. This is known as nutritional status. Early identification of nutritional abnormalities in individuals and/or populations and the implementation of suitable preventative measures are the goals of exams and nutritional status assessments (Coates et al. (2017).

Three different kinds of nutritional evaluation systems have been used for hospitalized patient treatment as well as population-based research: ? Nutrition surveys: cross-sectional assessments of specific demographic groups aimed at determining the general state of nutrition, identifying subgroups at risk for malnutrition, and generating baseline nutritional data. ? Nutrition surveillance: an ongoing, long-term assessment of the nutritional state of specific demographic groups (such as at-risk groups) with the goal of determining potential causes of malnutrition. ? Nutrition screening: a process used to identify malnourished people in need of nutritional assistance, it compares a person's nutritional status parameters with predefined requirements (Vitti et al., 2015).

References

Coates, J., Colaiezzi, B., Bell, W., Charrondiere, U., & Leclercq, C. (2017). Overcoming Dietary Assessment Challenges in Low-Income Countries: Technological solutions proposed by the International Dietary Data Expansion (INDDEX) Project. Nutrients, 9(3), 289. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9030289

Gherasim, A., Arhire, L. I., Ni??, O., Popa, A. D., Graur, M., & Mihalache, L. (2020). The relationship between lifestyle components and dietary patterns. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 79(3), 311–323. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0029665120006898

Kesari, A., & Noel, J. Y. (2023, April 10). Nutritional assessment. StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK580496/#_article-140683_s2_

Nutrition Module: 2. Nutrients and their Sources: View as single page | OLCreate. (n.d.). https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=315&printable=1

Vitti, G. C., De Cerqueira Luz, P. H., & Altran, W. S. (2015). Nutrition and fertilization. In Elsevier eBooks (pp. 53–88). https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-802239-9.00004-9

?