Clinical nutrition aims to keep a healthy energy balance in patients, along with providing essential amount of nutrients, such as carbohydrate +/− fiber, protein or amino acids, fat, minerals, vitamins, water, dextrose, additives and essential fatty acids.
With the increasing geriatric population, the clinical nutrition spends are expected to increase in the future. Due to the frail digestive framework at an old age, it becomes troublesome for human body to assimilate all the required nutrients from food. The loss of appetite is considered as a major widespread issue among the geriatric population, due to which, they do not get essential amount of nutrients. Therefore to get adequate supplements, the reliance of the geriatric population towards clinical nutrition support is increasing. The worldwide clinical nutrition business sector is growing because of high birth rate, increase in number of victims receiving malnutrition treatment, and high number of premature births.
A key trend witnessed in the global clinical nutrition market is the shift from parenteral nutrition to enteral nutrition. Enteral nutrition is gaining popularity over the years, owing to the improvement in techniques, compositions and materials. In addition, the lower cost and complications of enteral nutrition are also supporting the growth in demand of enteral nutrition products across the globe. Parenteral is less favoured techniques, due to its higher complication rate and higher cost. Parenteral nutrition is preferred, only when patients are unable to tolerate enteral nutrition procedures. This has shifted the interest of clinical nutrition industry leaders from parenteral nutrition to enteral nutrition. Enteral nutrition is also being preferred for long term feeding in old age patients.
Some of the major players operating in the global clinical nutrition market include Abbott Laboratories, Baxter International Inc., Nestlé S.A., B. Braun Melsungen AG, Mead Johnson Nutrition Company, Groupe Danone, Perrigo Company Plc. and Groupe Danone.