OET letter about nutrition and weight loss: how to describe poor intake and diet plans
In an OET Nursing letter about a patient with poor nutrition, give the weight change over a stated period, the main cause of poor intake, and the current plan: diet type, supplements, help with meals and any dietitian or speech pathology input. Then ask the reader to continue the plan and monitor weight. Leave out daily food charts and full meal lists.
What makes a nutrition letter useful
Nutrition problems appear in many OET-style cases: an older person who has stopped eating after a bereavement, a patient recovering from surgery, someone with swallowing problems after a stroke, or a person with a long illness. The notes often contain food charts, weights, screening scores and dietitian comments. The reader needs a short summary:
- How much weight has been lost, and over what time?
- Why is intake poor? Low appetite, swallowing difficulty, nausea, low mood, dental pain, needing help to eat, cost or access to food.
- What is the plan? Diet type, supplements, assistance at meals, referrals.
- What should the reader monitor? Usually weight and intake, sometimes swallowing or blood sugar.
What to include and what to leave out
| Usually include | Usually leave out |
|---|---|
| Weight change with a time frame | Every weekly weight |
| Main cause of poor intake | Full food diary |
| Diet type and texture | Lists of meals eaten each day |
| Supplements: name or type, how often | Brand comparisons that do not matter |
| Help needed (set-up, prompting, feeding) | Screening tool scores |
| Dietitian or speech pathology advice | Hospital menu details |
| Weighing plan or review date | Food preferences that do not affect the plan |
Turning nutrition notes into sentences
| Notes | Letter sentence |
|---|---|
| Wt 61 → 55 kg over 3/12 | "She has lost 6 kg over the past three months." |
| Poor appetite since husband died Jan | "Her appetite has been poor since the death of her husband in January." |
| Eats ~1/4 meals | "She is eating about a quarter of each meal." |
| Oral supps BD – takes well | "She takes a nutritional supplement drink twice a day and tolerates it well." |
| Needs set-up + prompting | "She needs her meals set up and verbal prompting to eat." |
| SP: soft & bite-sized, mildly thick fluids | "The speech pathologist has recommended a soft, bite-sized diet and mildly thickened drinks." |
| Dietitian r/v 2/52 | "She is due to be reviewed by a dietitian in two weeks." |
| Weekly wts | "Please weigh her once a week." |
Write "three months", not "3/12", and "twice a day", not "BD". See OET Writing abbreviations.
Tone: describing eating difficulties
Keep descriptions factual and kind. "She is reluctant to eat" or "She eats small amounts" is better than "She refuses food" unless the notes clearly say she declines. If low mood or bereavement is the cause, state it simply and without judgement. See formal tone and genre.
Adjusting for the reader
- Care home or residential facility: diet texture, help at meals, supplements, weighing schedule, what to report.
- Community nurse: weight trend, supplements, home support, who prepares meals, follow-up appointments.
- GP: cause being investigated, mood concerns, blood tests requested, dietitian referral.
- Family member or patient: practical tips in plain words, such as small frequent meals and when to call for help. See writing to a non-clinical reader.
Worked example (invented case)
Case summary (invented): Mrs Evelyn Murray, 84, widow since January, lives alone. Admitted 10 October with dizziness and dehydration. Weight 61 kg in July; 55 kg now. Eating about a quarter of meals; needs meals set up and prompting. Dentures loose, causing pain when chewing; dental review requested. Supplement drink twice a day, tolerates well. Mood low; GP to assess. Dietitian review in 2 weeks. Son lives 2 hours away, phones daily. Previously enjoyed baking. Hip replacement 2014. Being transferred to Elmwood Lodge for respite care. Task: write to the nurse in charge.
Selection decisions:
- In: reason for admission, weight loss with time frame, poor intake and the two causes (low mood after bereavement, painful dentures), help needed at meals, supplements, dietitian review, dental and GP follow-up.
- Out: hip replacement, baking, full admission observations.
Sample letter body (main paragraphs):
Dear Nurse in Charge,
Re: Mrs Evelyn Murray, aged 84
I am writing to transfer the care of Mrs Murray, who is being discharged to your facility today for respite care. Her poor nutritional intake requires ongoing support.
Mrs Murray was admitted on 10 October with dizziness and dehydration. She has lost 6 kg over the past three months and is currently eating only about a quarter of each meal. Her appetite has been poor since her husband died in January, and her mood remains low. In addition, her dentures are loose and cause pain when she chews, and a dental review has been requested.
She needs her meals set up and verbal prompting to eat. She takes a nutritional supplement drink twice a day and tolerates it well. A dietitian will review her in two weeks.
I would be grateful if you could continue her supplements, support her at mealtimes and weigh her weekly. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require further information.
Yours sincerely,
The letter explains why she is not eating as well as how much she has lost, which is what makes the reader's plan sensible.
Practise a full case under timed conditions at /writing/, or check a letter you have written for an estimated mark on each criterion.
Mistakes to avoid
- A weight without a time frame. "Weight 55 kg" alone tells the reader little.
- Copying the food chart. Summarise intake as a proportion or pattern.
- Leaving out the cause. The reader cannot solve a problem they do not understand.
- Unexplained diet terms. Describe modified textures clearly.
- No monitoring request. Ask for weights or intake checks if the notes plan them.
Related: stroke patient letters (swallowing and modified diets), diabetes patient letters and aged care transfer letters.
Sources
This guide is medEmu's writing advice, not official OET guidance or clinical advice; all patients, weights and plans are invented for practice and must not be used to guide care. The network used for this run could not reach oet.com, so no OET test facts are stated beyond the criterion names. For OET's official Writing information, see oet.com.