HealthInfo Canterbury
Dietary suggestions for swallowing difficulties
Ngā marohitanga kai mō ngā taumahatanga horomi
If you have problems swallowing, your speech-language therapist may recommend that you change the consistency of your food and fluids (drinks). This is to help you eat and drink better and more safely.
IDDSI
IDDSI stands for International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative. It is an international standard for food and fluids for people with swallowing difficulties.
The IDDSI framework has eight levels as shown in the diagram.
If you have swallowing difficulties, your speech-language therapist will assess you. They will work out what levels you need for food and fluids. When you know what levels to use, use the appropriate leaflets below.
Only use the leaflets after getting advice from your speech-language therapist. Do not change to a different level without first checking with a health professional.
This website is not the official IDDSI website. See the IDDSI website for the most up to date IDDSI information and resources.
Nutrition
If you are struggling to maintain a healthy weight, you may need to see a dietitian. A dietitian can help you make sure the food you are eating is well balanced and nutritious as well as having the right consistency.
What to do if you have problems
If you have problems like starting to cough after drinking, contact your speech-language therapist.
Testing
The food leaflets have information about testing. The testing is to make sure your food has the right consistency.
If someone else prepares your food, they will make sure the consistency is right. If you prepare your own food, you can use the tests. When you get used to preparing your food, you will probably not need to do the tests every time.
The fluids leaflets also have information about testing. If you prepare your own fluids, you will probably not need to do the testing yourself. You will usually follow instructions given to you by your speech-language therapist. Your speech-language therapist will tell you how much thickener to add to the fluids.
Some of the fluids tests measure how much liquid is left in a syringe after ten seconds of flow. If you want to find out about flow testing, see IDDSI flow test videos. This page has several videos in a YouTube playlist.
Leaflets
Fluids
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Food
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Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed July 2023.
Sources
See also:
© The International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative 2019 @ https://iddsi.org/framework. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Sharealike 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode. Derivative works extending beyond language translation are NOT PERMITTED.
Review key: HISWD-121957
