The National Kidney Foundation's Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI)
has provided evidence-based guidelines for nutrition in kidney diseases since 1999.
Since the publication of the first KDOQI nutrition guideline, there has been a great
accumulation of new evidence regarding the management of nutritional aspects of kidney
disease and sophistication in the guidelines process. The 2020 update to the KDOQI
Clinical Practice Guideline for Nutrition in CKD was developed as a joint effort with
the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (Academy). It provides comprehensive up-to-date
information on the understanding and care of patients with chronic kidney disease
(CKD), especially in terms of their metabolic and nutritional milieu for the practicing
clinician and allied health care workers. The guideline was expanded to include not
only patients with end-stage kidney disease or advanced CKD, but also patients with
stages 1-5 CKD who are not receiving dialysis and patients with a functional kidney
transplant. The updated guideline statements focus on 6 primary areas: nutritional
assessment, medical nutrition therapy (MNT), dietary protein and energy intake, nutritional
supplementation, micronutrients, and electrolytes. The guidelines primarily cover
dietary management rather than all possible nutritional interventions. The evidence
data and guideline statements were evaluated using Grading of Recommendations, Assessment,
Development and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria. As applicable, each guideline statement
is accompanied by rationale/background information, a detailed justification, monitoring
and evaluation guidance, implementation considerations, special discussions, and recommendations
for future research.