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Telehealth for nutrition care and services

Getting started: Understanding telehealth for nutrition care

Learn how to offer nutrition care via telehealth, including key steps for setting up virtual visits, engaging patients, and ensuring high-quality care.

On this page:

How is telehealth used to deliver nutrition care?

Telehealth can be used to deliver a range of services to support nutrition and health. The types of telehealth that can be used to deliver this care include:

  • Synchronous telehealth. A real-time, live interaction between a provider and a patient is one of the most common types of telehealth. Providers can use telehealth to deliver one-on-one or group counseling through video calls.
  • Asynchronous telehealth. This involves information shared between a provider and a patient that occurs at different points in time. For example, providers can review lab results and message follow-up instructions to help patients manage their diets.
  • Remote patient monitoring. Digital devices, such as wearables, can be used to monitor and transmit patient health data to a provider. Providers can receive information on a patient’s glucose levels and use the data to help the patient manage their diet.
  • Mobile health applications. Mobile apps are used on smartphones to track health data and provide information to patients. Providers can instruct patients to use mobile health applications to track diet and physical activity or set automatic reminders. Mobile apps can use artificial intelligence (AI) to generate tailored meal plans, assess allergens based on food labels, and estimate calories and nutrition based on a photo of food. Chatbots use AI to interact with patients and provide timely information or reminders.

There are many ways that telehealth can be used for nutrition care:

  • Developing personalized nutrition care plans. This includes virtual assessments, diagnoses, interventions, and monitoring and evaluation. Patients can send secure electronic messages, such as lab results, to a nutrition specialist. A subsequent telehealth visit enables the nutritionist to diagnose and develop a treatment plan. Remote patient monitoring is used to monitor and evaluate outcomes.
  • Planning meals. Video conference calls between a nutritional professional and a patient with a chronic condition are used to develop a personalized meal plan.
  • Tracking physical health. Wearable devices like glucometers are used to track blood sugar; smart watches can track physical activity.
  • Determining portion size. Online videos featuring nutrition professionals demonstrate appropriate portion sizes.
  • Understanding nutrition labels. Virtual consultations with nutrition experts teach patients how to use nutrition labels on packaged foods.
  • Group counseling. Remote group sessions focused on nutrition education and goal setting help patients develop healthier eating habits.
  • Monitoring progress. Data generated using mobile apps (digital food logs), wireless devices (digital scales), and wearables (smart watches) are useful for tracking diet and physical activity.

What types of nutrition care can be provided by telehealth?

Telehealth is used in many ways to support health and physical fitness. With virtual visits, trained experts can help people make healthier choices. Tele-nutrition care includes:

  • Patient-centered nutrition. Tele-nutrition leverages technology to provide personalized care that fits the patient’s needs and circumstances. This includes coordinating with the patient’s clinical care team, monitoring health data from wearable devices, and communicating with the patient and their family.
  • Medically tailored meals. Telehealth facilitates coordination with patients to customize fully prepared, nutritious meals designed by a nutrition profession. This helps meet a patient’s specific dietary needs. The meals are tailored based on the patient’s medical conditions, allergies, and nutritional needs. Technology increases collaboration between community partners to facilitate delivery of nutritious meals.
  • Preventive nutrition counseling. Telehealth provides information and education to inform dietary choices, promote a healthy lifestyle, and prevent chronic disease. Telehealth is an effective tool to encourage healthy eating and weight management, identify early risk factors such as dietary patterns and lifestyle, and outline a food plan. It promotes behavior changes and provides guidance to increase consumption of food that positively impacts health. Providers and patients discuss food choices that lower exposure to harmful chemicals.
  • Medical nutrition therapy. Telehealth supports the development of an individualized nutrition care plan to help manage and treat health conditions. Telehealth enhances medical nutrition therapy by building on nutrition counseling to prevent or delay chronic disease progression by addressing issues such as poor diet, metabolic imbalance, and damaged gut microbiome.

What are the benefits of telehealth for nutrition care?

Using telehealth to support nutrition and diet benefits both patients and providers. Patient benefits may include:

  • Increased access to dietitians and nutritionists, especially in areas with limited health professionals.
  • Promotion of preventive care and healthy lifestyle habits.
  • Enhanced chronic disease management.
  • Increased convenience and flexibility.
  • Reduced barriers related to transportation or mobility challenges.
  • Facilitation of personalized meal planning and food tracking.
  • Integration of multiple telehealth technologies, such as virtual visits with remote patient monitoring and mobile health applications.
  • Improved access to food resources through support navigating local farmers’ markets, community programs, and benefits like SNAP and WIC.
  • Enhanced privacy and comfort. Tele-nutrition allows patients to discuss nutritional needs and health goals in a familiar environment.

Possible provider benefits of tele-nutrition include:

  • Expanded access to a broader patient population.
  • Enhanced flexibility for scheduling.
  • Improved care coordination with other health care professionals.
  • Delivery of data-driven insights from information collected using remote monitoring and mobile apps.

Why is the use of telehealth for nutrition care growing?

Telehealth plays an increasingly important role in supporting nutrition and healthy eating. Through telehealth, nutrition professionals can deliver timely, personalized care while overcoming geographic, economic, and logistical barriers. Many factors contribute to the growing use of telehealth to deliver nutrition care:

  • Improved preventive care. As health care shifts toward disease prevention and wellness, tele-nutrition enables providers to educate patients on healthy eating and physical activity. Knowing about the importance of lifestyle changes promotes long-term health and can help prevent illness.
  • Greater access and patient choice. Telehealth bridges the gap for rural and hard-to-reach communities, where there is a shortage of nutrition professionals. It also reduces barriers such as travel time, transportation challenges, and mobility limitations.
  • Better chronic disease care. Chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes have highlighted the importance of nutrition counseling for chronic disease management. Tele-nutrition offers a scalable way to deliver support to patients managing complex health needs.
  • Technological advancements. Widespread use of digital health tools enhances the ability to track and support healthy behaviors remotely. Examples include wearable fitness trackers and AI tools that analyze nutrition based on a photo.
  • Expanding evidence base. A growing body of research shows that telehealth services are effective in increasing access to care and managing chronic conditions.

How can tele-nutrition care be provided for special populations and conditions?

Telehealth can help advance the health and well-being of patients who have specific health needs:

  • Maternal and pediatric health nutrition. A special focus on offering tele-nutrition to pregnant women and children can make a lifelong impact. Telehealth supports prenatal and postpartum nutrition and physical activity for mothers. This includes using telehealth to promote consumption of folic acid to prevent neural tube defects, managing gestational diabetes and hypertension, and giving lactation support. Telehealth encourages healthy growth and development for infants and children. This includes using telehealth to educate new parents on diet and strategies for infants with issues like reflux and providing information for parents of children who are not growing as expected. It can be used to offer nutritional support for parents of infants with birth defects that impact diet, such as a cleft palate, and discuss strategies for managing food allergies.
  • Behavioral health nutrition care. Telehealth can help promote the value of a healthy, balanced diet, which is key to improving emotional well-being and optimizing cognitive function. There are several ways that tele-nutrition can support emotional well-being, such as mitigating the negative impacts of mood disorders through nutrition-focused care, reducing symptoms associated with neurodevelopmental disorders through personalized diet strategies, and addressing hormonal imbalance related to health conditions.
  • Cancer nutrition care. Tele-nutrition offers dietary guidance to patients to help them maintain their strength and support recovery. Telehealth for nutrition counseling helps patients manage treatment side effects, focus on weight and muscle stability, and enhance the immune system. Telehealth involves care coordination with oncology and palliative care teams. It helps the care team deliver comprehensive, patient-centered care. Mobile health apps have a positive impact and help patients meet dietary and physical activity guidelines.
  • Weight management services. Telehealth supports a range of nutritional and behavioral interventions designed to help individuals achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Technology can enhance the effectiveness of these services by offering personalized nutrition plans. These plans support healthier weight and metabolic health and address food access in dietary counseling. Nutritionists can monitor a patient’s progress using remote patient monitoring tools and encourage positive behavior changes through online peer support networks.
  • Geriatric nutrition care. Telehealth supports older adults by providing advice on eating habits so they can stay strong and prevent or manage illness. Virtual assessments of weight, muscle loss, and chronic conditions make it easier for specialists to provide nutrition guidance to seniors. Mobile health tools remind seniors to eat well, drink enough water, and exercise.
  • Sports nutrition for athletes. Tele-nutrition helps athletes eat the right foods to boost energy, improve performance, and recover from injuries. Nutrition professionals can develop personalized meal plans based on digital information like the patient’s age, food consumption, and daily activity levels. Wearable devices track exercise and body temperature. Athletes use mobile apps to track their physical activity along with the amount of food they eat and water they drink.

More information:

Telehealth technology for diabetes care — U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Telehealth technology for chronic conditions — U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Types of telehealth for infant and toddlers — U.S. Department of Health and Human Services