Discharge education for a patient with an eating disorder should include which topic?

• A. Work with your psychologist to explore emotional issues contributing to your eating habits.
• B. A referral has been made with a dietician. The dietician will help to determine a nutrition plan for realistic weight gain.
• C. Eat your meals in private, so you do not feel extra pressure or judgment while you are eating.
• D. Weigh yourself daily. Your parent can record the number if you don't want to see it.

Answer: (B)

Focusing on a dietitian-led nutrition plan is essential for discharge education because it provides a clear, practical path for safe weight restoration after hospitalization or treatment. A registered dietitian can assess nutritional needs, tailor meal plans, and set realistic weight-gain goals that patients and families can follow in daily life. This specialized guidance helps ensure medical stability and creates structured steps for ongoing recovery, which is the foundation of successful post-discharge care.

While other aspects of treatment, like psychotherapy to address emotional contributors, are important as part of comprehensive care, the discharge education specifically emphasizes the logistics of nutrition management and follow-up with a dietitian. Techniques like eating meals in private can unintentionally increase fear and avoidance of eating, so structured, supervised or guidance-supported meal routines are preferred. Daily self-weighing by a parent is not typically recommended as a universal discharge instruction, as it can heighten anxiety or preoccupation with numbers; weight monitoring is usually coordinated with the treatment team rather than performed daily in the home setting.

So, the most appropriate discharge topic is arranging a dietitian-led plan for realistic weight gain to ensure a practical, ongoing nutrition management framework.