Who prepares the meals? This person may need nutritional counseling
Do you have enough food to eat? Be aware that pride and an unwillingness to admit inability to afford an adequate diet may prevent some clients and families from an answering this question. For hospitalized clients, it may be more useful to ask the client to compare the size of the meals they are served in the hospital with the sim of meals they normally eat. How much alcohol do you consume daily? Risk begins at more than one drink daily for women and more than two drinks daily for men.
Physical Findings
Loss of subcutaneous fat, such as in the triceps and chest muscle wasting in the quadriceps and deltoids, edema, sacral edema, and ascites may be indicative of malnutrition. These abnormal findings are subjectively assessed as mild, moderate, or severe.
Box 15 lists other physical findings that may suggest mainutrition. Most physical symptoms cannot be considered diagnostic because evaluation of "normal vers abnormal- findings is subjective, and the signs of malnutrition may be nonspecific For instance, dull, dry hair may be related to severe protein deficiency or to overexposure to the sun or use of hair products such as colorants. In addition, physical signs and symptoms of malnutrition can vary in intensity among population groups because of genetic and environmental differences. Lastly, physical finding occur only with overt malnutrition, not subclinical Sub clinical: malnutrition,