MUSC Nutrition Services : Clinical Services : Pediatric Nutrition Services

Inpatient Services:

• Pediatric Inpatient Dietitians assess patients identified with the following nutritional risk factors:

• Child’s (3-20 years of age) weight for age is below the 10th percentile 
• Child's (0-36months) weight for length is below the 10th percentile
• Child with recent unintentional weight loss
• Child requiring parental nutrition, tube feedings, special formulas or supplements
• Child with failure to thrive (FTT), cystic fibrosis, pressure wound, diabetes, renal disease, food allergy restrictions,
• Child with food aversions, difficulty chewing, eating, or swallowing

• Work with an multidisciplinary team including physicians, pharmacists, nurses, social workers and case managers, speech, occupational, and physical therapist, and patient's parents to provide the best patient care possible.  Dietitians work with this team to manage nutritional recommendations and educational needs for any require patient. In addition, dietitians are available to answer nutrition management questions as they arise

 A team of 3 Registered Dietitians (RDs) cover the MUSC pediatric hospital, and provide a nutritional assessment, calculating nutrition requirements, with interventions and counseling and continue to follow patients during their hospital stay.  After discharge from the hospital, a child may require the services of an RD as an outpatient.

Outpatient Services:

• Conduct nutritional assessment
• Provide medical nutrition therapy recommendations for children with a wide variety of nutritional disorders 
• Obtain a 24 hour recall, food records or other form of dietary records, conduct nutrient analyses and compare intake to estimated needs 
• Provide patient and family education on specialized and therapeutic diets, specialized formula preparation or home nutrition support, as needed 
• Work with patient's primary physician, as needed, to manage nutritional recommendations and answer nutrition management questions as they arise