Nutrition and Hydration Across the Lifespan: Integrating Nursing Care and Nutritional Science
Abstract
Background: Optimal nutrition and hydration underpin growth, metabolic homeostasis, and disease prevention across childhood, adulthood, pregnancy, and athletic performance. Malnutrition and dehydration remain prevalent and clinically consequential, driven by both quantitative (energy/fluid) and qualitative (diet composition) inadequacies.
Aim: To synthesize evidence on energy and fluid requirements across the lifespan, outline micronutrient priorities, and delineate role-specific interventions for nurses and nutritionists within interprofessional care pathways.
Methods: Narrative integration of established dietary reference values and clinical protocols described in the source article, spanning macronutrients, micronutrients, water balance, and condition-specific considerations (pediatrics, pregnancy, aging, sport). Emphasis was placed on actionable screening, resuscitation algorithms, and individualized dietary planning.
Results: Children require age- and weight-based caloric/fluid prescriptions; growth charts and the 4-2-1 rule guide practice. Adults generally need 2000–2800 kcal/day and sex-specific water intakes, with older adults at heightened dehydration risk. Pregnancy demands trimester-specific energy increases and targeted micronutrient supplementation (folate, iron, vitamin D, calcium, protein). Athletes need goal-driven macronutrient periodization and staged hydration with electrolytes. Clinically, low-GI carbohydrates, adequate protein (~1.6 g/kg/d in adults), prudent fat quality, and sufficient fiber support cardiometabolic health. Nurses lead screening, hemodynamic monitoring, IV access, and weight-/age-based fluid resuscitation; nutritionists diagnose dietary inadequacies, design individualized plans (e.g., DASH, therapeutic foods), and direct supplementation and education.
Conclusion: Lifespan-tailored prescriptions for energy, fluids, and micronutrients—implemented through coordinated nursing and nutritionist workflows—reduce preventable morbidity from malnutrition and dehydration and strengthen population health.
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Authors
Copyright (c) 2024 Maryam Khnaiser Hamoud Al-Barrak, Adhwaa Hurmus Alrashdi, Manwah Fawaz Al-Enazy, Nora Khaled Alsaleh, Maram Mohammed Alhablani, Amirah Hassan Amer Asiri, Ahmed Jubran Ahmed Shanyah, Nawaf Rasheed Sanidh Alruwaili, Safia Hassan Ibrahim Jary, Budour Mufadh Saleh Alanzi, Luay Turayhib Alharbi, Nouf Rabeh Almohammdi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.