Abstract
This study was done to compare the food behavior and nutritional intake between well-nourished and malnourished Hemodialysis (HD) patients. The study included 94 samples, on hemodialysis for at least 2 months. The study is done using proforma and questionnaire. Out of 94 selected HD patients, there were 46.8% well nourished, 50% mild to moderately malnourished and 3.2% severely malnourished. There was a positive impact on health status of the HD patients based on the number of meals taken in a day and inclusion of food groups such as pulses, egg, meat, other vegetables and fruits. Vintage of Dialysis had a significant difference on the nutritional status. The mean ± SD of energy, protein, fat and carbohydrate intake by the HD patients were 1386.72 ± 353.13 kcal/day, 43.67 ± 11.53 g/day, 32.85 ± 9.11 g/day and 213.81 ± 49.45 g/day. There is a statistically significant difference in the health status of HD patients based on the intake of calories, fat and carbohydrate. The study shows no statistically significant difference among the three different health groups based on the consumption of protein. The present study shows that there is a positive influence of food behavior and nutritional intake on hemodialysis patient’s health status.