Clinical Nutrition

The Department of Clinical Nutrition at Dongguan People's Hospital originated as the Nutrition Unit, which was established before 1985. It formally became the Department of Clinical Nutrition in August 2017. It has 6 professional staff: 1 Associate Chief Physician, 1 Attending Physician, 1 Resident Physician, 1 Physician (主管医师), 1 Associate Chief Technologist and 1 specialist nurse.

Clinical services

1. Standardised nutritional care for inpatients Inpatients receive standardised nutritional care following the sequence of nutrition screening, assessment, treatment and evaluation of treatment response. Malnourished inpatients receive structured nutritional therapy according to a stepwise treatment approach. Interventions include health education, guidance on therapeutic diets, enteral nutrition and parenteral nutrition.

2. Individualised enteral nutrition preparation The department has an enteral nutrition preparation room equipped with a dedicated nutrition system. It provides individualised treatment plans and preparation and delivery of enteral nutrition formulas for patients requiring enteral nutritional therapy.

3. Nutrition outpatient clinic The nutrition clinic provides 5–7 clinic sessions per week. Its scope includes height management, weight management, nutritional treatment of chronic diseases such as diabetes, kidney disease, tumours and sarcopenia, and nutritional guidance for groups including older adults, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and children.

4. Specialised assessments The department has specialised assessment equipment, including a body composition analyser and a metabolic cart, to provide more precise nutritional assessment and an individualised basis for nutrition plans. It also has bone-age assessment software for predicting height in children and adolescents.