Nutrition plays an important role in improving health and quality of life, as well as in preventing and managing disease. Nutritional science studies how the food we eat affects our health and continues to advance rapidly.
The Nutrition and Dietetics Department includes registered dietitians with expertise in pediatrics, surgery, internal medicine, oncology, nephrology, cardiology, women’s health, transplantation, geriatrics, eating disorders, bariatrics, specialized nutrition, and more.
Nutrition and Dietetics Units
At every age and in every health condition, proper nutrition is essential. It provides the body with the nutrients needed for growth, normal function, disease prevention, and recovery.
When a person is unable to meet their nutritional needs safely or adequately by mouth, alternative nutrition may be required. The two main methods are enteral nutrition, delivered through a feeding tube into the digestive system, and parenteral nutrition, delivered intravenously.
The choice of feeding method depends on the patient’s condition, preferences, and expected duration of nutritional support. For short-term enteral nutrition, a nasogastric feeding tube is usually preferred, while long-term feeding may be provided through a gastrostomy or jejunostomy.
Different stages of a woman’s life, including fertility and pregnancy, as well as conditions such as endometriosis and high-risk pregnancy, including gestational diabetes, may require specialized nutritional care.
Proper nutrition can have a significant impact on overall health, fertility treatment outcomes, management of women’s health conditions, maternal and fetal health, and quality of life.
The Women’s Nutrition Unit provides personalized nutritional counseling throughout a woman’s life, including nutritional assessment, evaluation of eating habits, individualized dietary plans, and support during fertility treatment, pregnancy, breastfeeding, and menopause.
Nutrition plays an important role throughout the cancer journey, from prevention and nutritional support during treatment to recovery and rehabilitation.
A varied, personalized diet can help maintain nutritional status and muscle mass, reduce treatment-related side effects, support recovery, and improve quality of life.
Individual nutritional counseling is provided by registered clinical dietitians specializing in oncology, with continuous support from diagnosis and treatment through follow-up, recovery, and rehabilitation.
Nutrition plays an important role in mental health, treatment, and rehabilitation. Individual or group nutritional care is provided by a clinical dietitian specializing in mental health, in collaboration with the multidisciplinary team.
Nutrition plays an important role in the treatment of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, liver disease, and gastrointestinal surgery.
Clinical dietitians provide personalized nutritional care in both inpatient and outpatient settings, helping manage symptoms, prevent nutritional deficiencies, support recovery after surgery, and improve quality of life. The dietitians work closely with the multidisciplinary medical team throughout treatment.
Hospitalization in internal medicine departments can be challenging for patients with complex, multidisciplinary medical conditions.
These challenges may include multiple coexisting conditions, treatment with numerous medications, the need for coordination between different healthcare professionals and specialties, and continuity of care between hospitalization and the community.
Each internal medicine department, as well as inpatient departments such as Dermatology, Neurology, Cardiology, and others, has a dedicated dietitian who is an integral part of the patient’s overall care.
The department dietitian provides a wide range of nutritional interventions, tailored to each patient’s medical condition and individual needs.
Medical rehabilitation is an important part of the continuum of care following illness, accidents, neurological events, injuries, major surgery, cancer, and other medical conditions.
Its goal is to help patients achieve the highest possible level of function, prevent deterioration, maximize independence and quality of life, and support their return to daily activities. Rehabilitation also aims to improve impaired functions while addressing the patient’s physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs.
Nutritional care is an integral part of the rehabilitation process, working in close collaboration with the other rehabilitation disciplines to support optimal recovery.
The Rehabilitation Division’s dietitians provide nutritional counseling and treatment in the general and geriatric rehabilitation departments and the Rehabilitation Day Hospital.
Pediatric nutrition is a fundamental part of a child’s physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development. A healthy, balanced diet supports normal growth, promotes healthy eating habits, and helps prevent future health problems.
For hospitalized and ill children, nutrition plays an essential therapeutic role by supporting recovery, helping prevent complications, and addressing each child’s medical, developmental, and emotional needs.
Nutritional care for infants, children, and adolescents is an integral part of medical treatment throughout the departments, units, and clinics of Dana-Dwek Children’s Hospital.
Individual nutritional counseling is provided by clinical dietitians, with care tailored to each child’s needs within their family environment.
The Nutrition and Dietetics Department at Tel Aviv Medical Center is committed to the highest standards of nutritional care. The department includes approximately 60 registered dietitians recognized by the Ministry of Health, with clinical expertise in a wide range of fields, including premature infants, pediatrics, surgery, internal medicine, oncology, nephrology, cardiology, women’s health, transplantation, geriatrics, eating disorders, bariatrics, specialized nutrition, and more.
The department’s dietitians teach at universities and nutrition schools, participate in professional forums and research, and present at conferences in Israel and internationally. The department also operates Israel’s largest specialized training program for dietetic interns.
Our Role and Mission
The department is responsible for nutritional care throughout the Medical Center, serving patients, hospitalized patients, and hospital employees. Dietitians are an integral part of the multidisciplinary teams in inpatient departments, clinics, and institutes.
Nutritional care aims to improve nutritional status, health outcomes, function, and quality of life, while also promoting health and preventing disease among patients and in the community.
Our Nutritional Care
Nutritional care is provided in both inpatient and outpatient settings and is individually tailored to each patient’s clinical and medical needs. It includes:
- Comprehensive nutritional assessment: Including body measurements and composition, weight, muscle mass and strength, body fat, nutritional status, nutritional deficiencies, specific dietary requirements, food sensitivities, and more.
- Nutritional intervention and follow-up: Tailored to the patient’s individual medical and nutritional needs.
- Discharge guidance and continuity of care: Support and guidance for hospitalized patients and their families to ensure continued nutritional care following discharge.