Nutrition
At UNC Medical Center, our registered dietitians are specially trained, nationally credentialed nutrition experts who provide advanced medical nutrition therapy for infants, children and adults. We collaborate with your medical providers for an individualized treatment plan to manage a variety of medical conditions and nutrition-related concerns.
Services We Provide
Pediatric Inpatient and Outpatient Services
Your child's nutrition is paramount to health and wellbeing. Our dietitians are specially trained in pediatrics to assess your child's growth and development, nutrition status, and will individualize calorie, protein, vitamin and mineral needs specific to your child's medical concerns. We collaborate with your health care team to develop a personalized nutrition plan and work with caregivers on family-centered nutrition education and counseling.
Adult Inpatient and Outpatient Services
Our registered dietitians partner with adult hospital service medical teams and with a variety of specialty outpatient clinics to to provide medical nutrition therapy. Our goals are to harmonize each individual patient's nutrition with their other medical interventions, to support healing and recovery, and to help patients learn how best to manage their nutrition in and out of the hospital. We cover a broad spectrum of nutrition care plans including cystic fibrosis, transplant, weight loss, eating disorders, bariatric surgery, malnutrition, heart disease and kidney disease.
Metabolic & Nutrition Research Core
The Metabolic and Nutrition Research Core specializes in the development and production of controlled nutrient meals for feeding studies. Services include consultation on study design and nutrition research methods, design of nutrient controlled meals and recipes, production of nutrient controlled meals, nutrient intake analysis, education material development, nutrition counseling, food record analysis, indirect calorimetry and anthropometric measurements. Click here to learn more.
Reasons to See a Registered Dietitian
Registered dietitians provide comprehensive nutrition assessments, nutrition counseling and a nutrition treatment plan for infants, children and adults to manage a variety of nutrition-related concerns and medical conditions including but not limited to:
- Feeding Problems
- Poor weight gain
- Tube Feeding Management
- Weight Management/Obesity
- Liver Disease
- Transplant
- Malnutrition
- Parenteral Nutrition
- Eating Disorders
- Cystic Fibrosis
- Gastrointestinal Disorders
- Diabetes
- High Cholesterol/Triglycerides
- Endocrine Disorders
- Food Allergies, Sensitivities, Intolerances
- Heart Disease
- Kidney Disease
- Normal Nutrition for Proper Growth and Development
Benefits
The following are just a few of the many benefits of working with a Registered Dietitian:
- Improved weight gain or weight loss, depending on individual goals
- Improved management of chronic disease
- Improved feeding and gastrointestinal tolerance
- Improved ability to meet calorie, protein, fluid, and vitamin and mineral requirements in order to improve overall nutrition status
- Decreased risk for complications associated with medical condition
How Do Registered Dietitians Work with Other Providers on a Patient’s Care Team?
Registered Dietitians work alongside a multidisciplinary team including physicians, nurse practitioners, speech language pathologists and other medical professionals to treat and manage infants, children and adults with medically-complex conditions. By working together with other members of the health care team, registered dietitians can provide a nutrition treatment plan that supports the goals of the multidisciplinary team and promotes successful outcomes for the patient.
Make a Referral to UNCH Outpatient Nutrition Clinic
All physician directed referrals for dietitian services should go into EPIC under UNCH Nutrition. If you do not have access to EPIC, please send the referral by fax to (984) 974-9674.
