Incorporating nutrition into pediatric practice: physicians and dietitians working together to improve children's health.

Abstract

Clinicians are needed to include nutrition in the routine care of infants and children in office practice. Physicians play an important role in assessing nutritional status, diagnosing nutritional problems, providing a rationale for treatment, prescribing, performing brief counseling, referring to other resources if needed, and following up on the progress of their patients. Registered dietitians are the consultants of choice to assist pediatricians in the care of patients with nutrition-related disorders and are skilled in providing pediatric health promotion and disease prevention information. Consultant dietitians in the community can be found through contacting the local department of health or local hospital outpatient department. The American Dietetic Association also maintains a list of consulting dietitians throughout the United States. Funding mechanisms for engaging dietetic services vary from contracting with dietitians in private practice, local health departments, or hospital outpatient clinics, to employing dietitians on-site to provide counseling services in the office. Availability for third party payment for nutrition services varies with insurance carriers, individual policies, and region of the country. Incorporating nutrition into pediatric practice is important. Together, physicians and dietitians can work together to improve children's health.