Current Nutrition Education Research Articles

Nutrition Education for Adolescents: Building Healthy Eating Habits at Growing Age

This study explores the effectiveness of nutrition education in building healthy eating habits among adolescents, which is a crucial age for growth and development. Although adolescents have basic knowledge about the importance of nutrition, such as the benefits of vitamins and minerals, the information they receive is often not in-depth or practical enough to be applied in daily habits. This study identifies that current nutrition education programs are often less interactive and not always relevant to the context of adolescent life. Through qualitative methods, this study reveals the challenges faced by adolescents in implementing healthy eating habits, such as peer influence and limited access to healthy food. The findings suggest that a more holistic approach is needed to address these barriers. Strategies that involve more practical and participatory educational methods, as well as support from families and communities, have proven effective in increasing understanding and application of nutrition principles. The results of the study explain that educational programs involving practical activities, educational games, and family and community participation can help adolescents make healthy food decisions and support their growth and overall health.

Reimagining nutrition education for pregnant adolescents in the face of climate change: a community approach

ObjectivesTo explore challenges with current nutrition education for teenage pregnant women in a drought-prone community in Kenya and to elicit the communities’ suggestions on how to best adapt it in...

An investigation of employer perceptions of Irish nutrition graduate competencies.

Undergraduate nutrition programmes prepare students and graduates for a wide range of employment opportunities. However, little is known about how employers perceive current nutrition education practices in Ireland and how well graduates are prepared for the realities of today's workforce. The present study aimed to explore employers' perspectives of nutrition placement students and graduates' competencies for the workforce. Interviews were conducted with 12 nutrition employers across Ireland and the UK who currently or have recently employed Irish nutrition graduates or supervised placement students. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. Three themes were identified including: "adapting to modern workforce needs", "professional competency expectations" and "valuing competency-based educational and professional systems". Employers reported an overall positive experience with Irish nutrition placement students and graduates. They are perceived as adaptable, willing to learn and professional. Many felt nutrition students and graduates had received quality education with knowledge, skills and attitudes meeting expectations of nutrition education being provided but felt that students and graduates often lacked confidence in their abilities. Employers remarked that graduates who had undergone placements were better prepared for the professional work environment. However, gaps were identified because employers felt nutrition curricula lack training on business skills and digital competencies. Employers had a positive experience with Irish nutrition graduates and students and felt they were competent for the workforce. Addressing the gaps identified by employers to adapt curricula to modern workforce needs would further enhance graduate employability.

The feasibility of implementing food-based dietary guidelines and food graphics in Ethiopia

This study aimed to test the acceptability, cultural appropriateness, consumers' understanding, and practicality of the Ethiopian food-based dietary guideline's messages, tips, and food graphics. A qualitative study design was applied with focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Four different participant groups were included: 40 consumers, 15 high-level nutrition experts, 30 frontline community health extension workers (HEWs), and 15 agriculture extension workers (AEWs) to incorporate different stakeholder perspectives. Data collection was conducted using 7 focus group discussions (FGDs) and 30 key informant interviews (KIIs). Collected data were coded and analyzed using QSR International NVivo V.11 software. Most of the study participants were highly interested in implementing the dietary guidelines once these guidelines are officially released. Based on the participants' views, most of the messages align with the current nutrition education materials implemented in the country except the messages about physical activity and alcohol intake. However, participants suggested defining technical terms such as ultra-processing, whole grain, safe and balanced diet in simpler terms for a better understanding. Practicality, affordability, availability, and access to the market were the major barriers reported for adherence to the guidelines. To be more inclusive of cultural and religious beliefs, findings show that the guideline should address fasting and traditional cooking methods. In conclusion, the dietary guidelines were well received by most stakeholders. They are thought to be feasible once feedback on wording, affordability, availability, and access is considered in the messages, tips, and graphic designs.

An Assessment of Nutrition Education in Endocrinology Fellowship Programs in the United States

ObjectiveCounseling patients about nutrition significantly improves chronic disease outcomes. Endocrinologists are uniquely positioned to educate patients regarding nutrition. The purpose of this study was to define the current state of nutrition education in endocrinology fellowship programs in the United States and assess the needs for future nutrition training. MethodsEndocrinology program directors were surveyed via an online questionnaire between February and April 2021. ResultsThirty-eight program directors responded (25% response rate) to the survey. Twenty-two (58%) programs offered nutrition education. Existing nutrition education offerings were 1 to 5 total hours (13, 34%), primarily didactic (20, 53%), and often led by registered dietitian nutritionists (15, 39%). Only 3 (8%) programs rated their current nutrition education as extremely effective; 95% of respondents believed that further nutrition education was needed. According to respondents, the ideal nutrition education for endocrine trainees should be 1 to 5 total hours (19, 50%) over multiple sessions (25, 66%), be interactive (24, 63%), and be led by registered dietitian nutritionists (26, 68%). The most important topics for independent practice included diet-related behavior modification (21, 55%), components of a healthful diet (19, 50%), and energy expenditure/intake (18, 47%). ConclusionAlthough the majority of the program directors believe that further nutrition education is needed, almost half of the surveyed programs do not offer such training. Programs that offer nutrition education primarily rely on a didactic format. There is an unmet need for interactive, multidisciplinary nutrition education in these programs.

Community-Level Impacts of Climate-Smart Agriculture Interventions on Food Security and Dietary Diversity in Climate-Smart Villages in Myanmar

Diversification of production to strengthen resilience is a key tenet of climate-smart agriculture (CSA), which can help to address the complex vulnerabilities of agriculture-dependent rural communities. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the promotion of different CSA practices across four climate-smart villages (CSVs) in Myanmar. To determine the impact of the CSA practices on livelihoods and health, survey data were collected from agricultural households (n = 527) over three years. Within the time period studied, the results indicate that some the CSA practices and technologies adopted were significantly associated with changes in household dietary diversity scores (HDDS), but, in the short-term, these were not associated with improvements in the households’ food insecurity scores (HFIAS). Based on the survey responses, we examined how pathways of CSA practice adoption tailored to different contexts of Myanmar’s four agroecologies could contribute to the observed changes, including possible resulting trade-offs. We highlight that understanding the impacts of CSA adoption on household food security in CSVs will require longer-term monitoring, as most CSA options are medium- to long-cycle interventions. Our further analysis of knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAPs) amongst the households indicated a poor understanding of the household knowledge, attitudes and practices in relation to nutrition, food choices, food preparation, sanitation and hygiene. Our KAP findings indicate that current nutrition education interventions in the Myanmar CSVs are inadequate and will need further improvement for health and nutrition outcomes from the portfolio of CSA interventions.

In Their Own Words: Parents and Key Informants' Views on Nutrition Education and Family Health Behaviors.

Parents, health professionals, and communities are integral in the development of nutrition behaviors that reduce children’s risk for high body mass index (BMI) and chronic disease. The aim of this study was to conduct formative evaluations with key health informants and parents to understand the specific strategies that families use at mealtimes to promote their family’s health, along with the barriers they face in attending current nutrition education programming. Focus groups (in English and Spanish) were conducted with parents (n = 22; 63.64% Black/African American, 13.64% Black but not African American, 18.18% Hispanic/Latinx) whose household was located in a community where 50% of residents’ gross income was ≤185% of the federal poverty level. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six key informants with expertise in family health and nutrition. Inductive thematic analysis was used to identify themes across interviews. Six general themes emerged from the interviews including perceptions of health, relationships, health behaviors, facilitators, barriers, and desired changes. Across the six themes, participants responded with suggestions for community-based health promotion programs such as incorporating a broader definition of health to better address the individual and systemic barriers that perpetuate health inequities and make healthy eating difficult. Participants identified stress reduction, health literacy, and cooking knowledge as areas of interest for future programming.

Current State of Nutrition Education in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Programs in the United States and Canada.

To assess the current state of nutrition education provided during pediatric critical care medicine fellowship. Cross-sectional survey. Program directors and fellows from pediatric critical care medicine fellowship programs in America and Canada. Seventy current pediatric critical care medicine fellows and twenty-five pediatric critical care medicine fellowship program directors were invited to participate. Participants were asked demographic questions related to their fellowship programs, currently utilized teaching methods, perceptions regarding adequacy and effectiveness of current nutrition education, and levels of fellow independence, comfort, confidence, and expectations in caring for the nutritional needs of patients. Surveys were sent to randomly selected program directors and fellows enrolled in pediatric critical care medicine fellowship programs in America and Canada. Twenty program directors (80%) and 60 fellows (86%) responded. Ninety-five percent of programs (19/20) delivered a formal nutrition curriculum; no curriculum was longer than 5 hours per academic year. Self-reported fellow comfort with nutrition topics did not improve over the course of fellowship (p = 0.03), with the exception of nutritional aspects of special diets. Sixty-five percent of programs did not hold fellows responsible for writing daily parenteral nutrition prescriptions. There was an inverse relationship between total number of fellows in a pediatric critical care medicine program and levels of comfort in ability to provide parenteral nutrition support (p = 0.01). Program directors perceived their nutritional curriculum to be more effective than did their fellows (p ≤ 0.001). Nutrition education was reported as highly underrepresented in pediatric critical care medicine fellowship curricula. The majority of programs rely on allied health care professionals to prescribe parenteral nutrition, which may influence trainee independence in the provision of nutritional therapies. Improving the format of current nutrition curriculums, by relying on more active teaching methods, may improve the delivery and efficacy of nutrition education. The impact of novel training interventions on improving the competency and safety of enteral and parenteral nutrition delivery in the PICU must be further examined.

O25 Bodacious Broccoli: Assessing Preschool-Aged Children's Liking and Acceptance of Broccoli in Different Cooking Forms

Background Current literature suggests early childhood is a crucial time for establishing healthy eating habits. These behaviors often extend into adulthood. Most children in US eat below recommended amounts of fruits/vegetables. Current nutrition education interventions may not be effective in reaching target intake. Objective To measure if altering cooking form for broccoli affects children's liking, desire to consume again, and interest in making again. Broccoli was chosen because it has been reported to be America's favorite vegetable, is affordable, and available throughout the year. Study Design, Setting, Participants A 3 × 2 design with cooking form (raw with dip, pizza, soup), presented in 3 culinary tasting lessons, with binary rating (thumbs up or thumbs down) for 3 assessment questions. Raw broccoli was used as a control. A convenience sample of 4-year-old preschoolers from a variety of race and ethnic backgrounds (n = 17, 35% M). Measurable Outcome/Analysis Dichotomous rating measures for acceptance, likelihood to eat again, and desire to make recipe at home were examined for the 3 cooking forms of broccoli and control. Frequencies examined percentage of preschoolers that accepted, were likely to eat again, and desired to make at home for 3 broccoli cooking forms and control. T-tests were performed to test for significant difference between each of the 3 cooking forms and the control. Results For the 3 main outcome measures: acceptance (77%), likelihood to eat again (82%), desire to make at home (100%), the largest percentage of preschoolers chose broccoli pizza. There was a significant difference in outcome measures for all cooking forms compared to the control (P Conclusion Offering broccoli on pizza is a method to increase acceptance of broccoli, likelihood to eat it again, and desire to make at home. The results of this study adds to the body of research on how to encourage children to eat more broccoli, to meet recommended amounts of vegetables, by offering it in other forms than raw. Funding Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Long-term Impact of Child Nutrition Status on Current Nutrition Status and Education: A Case Study from Rural Cambodia

The nutrition status in early childhood affects child’s healthy development and acquisition of education and human capital, and health status and productivity in adulthood. The objective of this study is to explore the long-term impact of (childhood) nutrition status on the current BMI (Body Mass Index) and education of individuals, by focusing on rural Cambodia. From the estimation results of longitudinal data analysis, I found that the past nutrition status, measured by height for age and weight for age z-scores, is positively associated with the current nutrition status. In addition, children who have had better nutrition are more likely to have a higher number of years of schooling.

P185 Similar Eating Behaviors and Attitudes Reported by Indiana High-School Students in Treatment and Control Schools at Baseline

Background Current instructional materials and evidence-based nutrition education are important for teachers to guide students in making healthy food choices. Objective To compare baseline fruit and vegetable (FV) attitudes and behaviors of students in two groups of schools to establish similarities between students before an intervention with a new nutrition curriculum. Study Design, Settings, Participants Indiana high-school Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) teachers were recruited for a curriculum training session before a state conference. Seventy-one teachers were randomly assigned to intervention (spring 2018 training) or control (delayed training, spring 2019) after stratifying by geographic location and school size. Participants were girl and boy student volunteers in 9-12th grades in FACS classes instructed by teachers from both groups Fall 2018. Measurable Outcome/Analysis Student volunteers completed 38-item online Qualtrics surveys at beginning of Fall 2018 prior to curricular instruction. Validated items measured FV familiarity, preferences, neophobias, daily consumption and variety, attitudes, intentions to eat FV, and knowledge from 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). Differences between groups were tested using linear mixed models with random effects for school (level 1 = school, level 2 = student, α = .05). Results Of 71 teachers recruited, 19 control and 22 intervention enrolled in the study. There were 1,212 and 853 students in control and intervention schools, respectively, that completed surveys. There were no differences at baseline between students in intervention and control groups in FV familiarity (P= .163), FV preferences (P = .985), fruit neophobia (P = .816), vegetable neophobia (P = .241), daily intake of total fruit (P = .079), whole fruit (P = .362), vegetables (P = .396), daily variety of fruit (P = .722), vegetables (P = .223), times students tried new fruit (P = .449), vegetable (P = .366), attitudes toward eating fruit (P = .678), vegetables (P = .143), intentions to eat fruit (P = .395), vegetables (P = .628) and DGA knowledge (P = .882). Conclusion Treatment groups were similar in all outcomes at baseline indicating that they are suitable for comparing the effectiveness of the new nutrition curriculum. Funding USDA Team Nutrition.

Exploring Family-Medicine Providers’ Perspectives on Group Care Visits for Maternal and Infant Nutrition Education

ObjectiveExplore current maternal and infant nutrition education practices and family medicine primary care providers' views on a group care model to deliver nutrition education to mother–infant dyads. DesignIn-depth interviews. SettingFamily medicine clinics in 1 Midwestern US hospital system. ParticipantsFamily medicine primary care providers (n = 17) who regularly see infants during well-baby visits. Phenomenon of InterestCurrent maternal and infant nutrition education practices; views on ideal way to deliver nutrition education to mother–infant dyads; feedback on group care model to deliver nutrition education to mother–infant dyads. AnalysisAudio recordings transcribed verbatim and coded using conventional content analysis. ResultsFamily medicine primary care providers are limited in the ability to provide maternal and infant nutrition education and desire a different approach. Group care was the preferred method; it was shared most frequently as the ideal approach to nutrition education delivery and participants reacted favorably when presented with this model. However, there were many concerns with group care (eg, moderating difficult conversations, program implementation logistics, sufficient group volume, and interruption in patient–provider relationship). Conclusion and ImplicationsFamily medicine primary care providers desire a different approach to deliver nutrition education to mother–infant dyads in clinic. A group care model may be well-accepted among family medicine primary care providers but issues must be resolved before implementation. These results could inform future group care implementation studies and influence provider buy-in.

Expectations and Recommendations from Low‐Income Adults Regarding an eLearning Nutrition Education Program Prior to Program Use

This study reports findings from the formative evaluation of a new eLearning nutrition education program, titled Food eTalk, developed for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program‐Education (SNAP‐Ed) eligible adults in Georgia (southeastern USA). A mixed‐methods case study approach was employed to understand feasibility and expectations of Food eTalk from the perspective of members of the priority audience. A purposeful convenience sample of 64 low‐income adult Georgians were recruited for a series of 2 focus groups (n=45) or 3 individual interviews (n=19) (age 39 ± 14 years, 97% female, 34% Black, 11% Latina, 61% SNAP recipients, 80% living with children ≤ 18 years old, 81% reported daily Internet access using their smartphone). We report findings from the first focus groups and individual interviews in these series prior to the participants' exposure to Food eTalk. The moderator guide included questions about: baseline Internet habits, current nutrition education resources, expectations of Food eTalk, and recommendations for content and format. Analysis of the verbatim‐transcribed interviews was guided by an inductive constant‐comparison coding method to construct prominent themes. Three major themes include: 1) concerns of relevance of Food eTalk content, 2) barriers making eating healthfully difficult, and 3) common practices of eLearning on a smartphone. Participants who attended previous eLearning ‘classes’ through job‐training, general educational development (GED) programs, or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants and Children (WIC) speculated Food eTalk would be: too long, ‘boring’ and content would be a ‘basic review’. Participants ardently discussed a myriad of barriers they face to eating and feeding their family healthfully. They described typical smartphone use for nutrition or health information as ‘really quick’ to answer a specific question. Participants were eager for recipes, ways to make traditional Southern dishes healthier, and information on diabetes and weight loss. Content including solutions to commonly discussed barriers, such as improving diet quality for children who are ‘picky’ eaters, may be well received. Participants suggested unless Food eTalk is mandatory, the best way to engage users would be to offer financial incentives such as food coupons. Because of the nature of mobile device usage (quick, contextual, specific), it is imperative eLearning nutrition education programs employ a format in which content answers particular and timely questions. The findings from this study suggest Food eTalk, a voluntary nutrition education program, include a just‐in‐time format with relevant content as perceived by the priority audience, rather than standard nutrition education messages and formats typically adopted in SNAP‐Ed programs. This study informs the iterative development of Food eTalk, to best serve the nutrition education needs and enhance smartphone‐based program engagement of our priority audience.Support or Funding InformationThis project is funded by USDA SNAP‐Ed and RNECE‐South Innovation Sub Award

Nutrition in Medicine: Medical Students׳ Satisfaction, Perceived Relevance and Preparedness for Practice

PurposeDoctors play a critical role in providing nutrition care and supporting patients to adopt healthy dietary habits. Improving the quality of nutrition education in medical schools is necessary to build the capacity of doctors to deliver effective nutrition care to help reduce malnutrition especially for sub-Saharan Africa. This study investigated Ghanaian undergraduate clinical level medical students’ satisfaction with their current nutrition education, preparedness to provide nutrition care, perceived relevance of nutrition education to their future practice and their relationships. MethodA survey among 207 clinical level medical students was conducted. An 11-item questionnaire with subscales was used to assess students’ demographic characteristics, satisfaction with current nutrition education, preparedness to provide nutrition care and perceived relevance of nutrition education to their future practice. ResultsNinety-two percent (n=187) of the students considered nutrition education to be relevant to their future practice. However, the majority of the students (70%) were dissatisfied with the amount of time dedicated to nutrition education in their curriculum; integration of nutrition into organ-system based modules (62.0%); inclusion of nutrition materials to promote independent study (62.8%) and nutrition course content (59.0%). Only 22.2% felt adequately prepared by their current nutrition education to provide nutrition care in the general practice setting. Satisfaction with current education in nutrition was positively related to students’ preparedness to provide nutrition care in the general practice setting. DiscussionStudents were dissatisfied with their current education in nutrition, felt inadequately prepared to provide nutrition care and considered nutrition education to be highly relevant to their future practice. The findings of this study provide additional evidence that suggests changes in the current format and content of nutrition education in medical education.

The Shrinking of Formalized Nutrition Education in Health Professions Curricula and Postgraduate Training.

The quantity of formalized nutrition education is shrinking in curricula of health professions, such as physicians, nurses, dietitians, and pharmacists. The current nutrition education being taught in U.S. schools of healthcare professionals does not appropriately prepare students for identification of patients at nutrition risk or management of undernourished hospitalized patients with specialized nutrition therapies. In U.S. schools of pharmacy, parenteral nutrition is considered a highly specialized and advanced practice so little time is devoted to this area and more attention is focused on chronic disease state management (ie, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and congestive heart failure). Nutrition support fellowships for physicians and nutrition support residency programs for pharmacists have dwindled in number over the years so that only a handful of these healthcare professionals are produced each year from the remaining formalized programs. Physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and dietitians can positively affect patient care, but each profession must first determine how best to integrate basic and applied nutrition concepts into their professional curricula and training programs. There must also be consensus among the healthcare professions as to the depth of nutrition education and the stage of training at which these integrations should occur. Only by having these crucial conversations among all disciplines will we be able to develop new strategies to expand nutrition education in the training of future medical practitioners.

Development of a Nutrition Education Intervention for Food Bank Clients.

The focus of this article is the development of a nutrition education intervention for food bank clients. Formative research using mixed-methods (qualitative and quantitative) and community-based participatory research principles was conducted to assess the nutrition education needs of clients obtaining service from the Houston Food Bank (HFB). Participants were HFB and pantry staff and clients. Interview data were coded and analyzed using grounded theory approach. Themes were then identified. Quantitative data were analyzed for frequencies and descriptives. Data were used to tailor the curriculum to the target population. Six HFB staff, 49 pantry staff from 17 pantries, and 54 clients from 10 pantries participated in interviews and focus groups and completed questionnaires. The participants provided opinion on the current nutrition education provided via the food bank and made suggestions on strategies for development of an intervention. Their feedback was used to develop the six-session intervention curriculum to be delivered over 6 months. This research provides evidence that it is critical for members of the target audience be included in formative research to develop behavior change programs that are relevant and appealing and target their needs and interests.

경기 지역 영양교사의 영양교육 현황 및 효과적인 영양교육 방안에 관한 연구

This study aimed to investigate current nutrition education and effective plans for nutrition teachers in schools. Data were collected by a face-to-face questionnaire. Surveyed schools were elementary, middle, and high schools at percentages of 32.4%, 35.1%, and 32.4%, respectively. Percentage of nutrition education was above 90%, whereas off-line education was very uncommon in middle (8.3%) and high schools (27.3%) compared with elementary schools (63.6%), (p ‘systematic education process (4.76 score)’ > ‘professional nutrition education (4.51 score)’. Most important duty was ‘nutrition education and consultation (51.4%)’, although it achieved the lowest satisfaction at a score of 2.46. Overall analysis, demand and awareness of nutrition teachers for nutrition education were very high. Therefore, an institutional strategy and environmental improvements are required by setting up curriculum subjects and developing diverse education programs for systematic nutrition education.

Best Strategies to Improve School-leavers' Knowledge of Nutrition and Food Systems: Views from Experts in Iran.

Background:The research to date does not present an articulated approach to ensure nutrition and food systems education is systematically implemented within schools. This paper aimed to investigate food experts’ views of the best strategies to improve school-leavers’ knowledge of nutrition and food systems.Methods:In this qualitative study, 28 Iranian food and nutrition experts from four major provinces (Tehran, Fars, Isfahan, and Gilan) were selected and agreed to be interviewed. Required data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured, face-to-face, or telephone interviews and were analyzed thematically using NVivo.Results:The experts’ suggested strategies to improve Iranian school-leavers’ knowledge of nutrition and food systems fell into three key themes: Policy, education processes, and supportive environments. Together they formed an overarching theme of a multileveled system approach for transferring knowledge.Conclusions:Development of a scaffolded education program could assist curriculum developers and policy makers to assess and update current nutrition and food systems education programs in schools. Insights gained about education initiatives in one country such as Iran can provide an important impetus to support nutrition and food system education more widely.

Measuring practical knowledge about balanced meals: development and validation of the brief PKB-7 scale.

As a high-quality diet is associated with a lower risk for several diseases and all-cause mortality, current nutrition education tools provide people with information regarding how to build a healthy and a balanced meal. To assess this basic nutrition knowledge, the research aim was to develop and validate a brief scale to measure the Practical Knowledge about Balanced meals (PKB-7). A pool of 25 items was pretested with experts and laypeople before being tested on a random sample in Switzerland (n=517). For item selection, a Rasch model analysis was applied. The validity and reliability of the new scale were assessed by three additional studies including laypeople (n=597; n=145) and nutrition experts (n=59). The final scale consists of seven multiple-choice items, which met the assumptions of the Rasch model. The validity of the new scale was shown by several aspects: the Rasch model was replicated in a second study, and nutrition experts achieved significantly higher scores than laypeople (t(148)=20.27, P<0.001, d=1.78). In addition, the PKB-7 scale was correlated with other nutrition-related constructs and associated with reported vegetable consumption. Test-retest reliability (r=0.68, P<0.001) was acceptable. The PKB-7 scale is a reliable and a valid Rasch-based instrument in Swiss citizens aged between 18 and 80 years for measuring the practical knowledge about balanced meals based on current dietary guidelines. This brief and easy-to-use scale is intended for application in both research and practice.

Capacity building in nutrition science: revisiting the curricula for medical professionals

The current nutrition education curricula for students in U.S. medical schools, and schools of other health professions, such as nursing and oral health, do not provide enough opportunity to gain knowledge of the interactions among micro- and macronutrients, their role in maintaining optimal body functions, factors that interfere with these interactions, or, importantly, how to integrate this knowledge into medical practice. There is a need to better prepare healthcare professionals for identifying nutrition risk and managing hospitalized patients, especially those with chronic conditions, using an interprofessional, team-based approach. A major goal of this report is to revisit current nutrition training programs for physicians and other healthcare professionals in order to explore opportunities for providing healthcare providers with the essential tools of preventative and therapeutic nutrition intervention strategies. The issues addressed include whether a consensus exists on how to integrate basic and applied nutrition into the general healthcare professional curriculum, and if so, at which stages of training and at what depth should these integrations occur; how nutrition education is dealt with and achieved throughout all the health professions; and whether current nutrition education models are sufficient. To help address these issues, the report will review current nutrition education practices-their strengths and weaknesses-as well as evaluate promising new initiatives, and offer proposals for new directions for nutrition education training of future generation of medical practitioners.