The culinary medicine elective “Prospective Physicians For Fibre” improves fibre intake and nutrition knowledge in German medical students

Abstract

Background: Nutrition education remains an underdeveloped component of medical training globally. This gap in knowledge can hinder physicians from effectively integrating nutrition into clinical practice, creating a significant barrier to supporting meaningful dietary changes in patients. We developed a culinary medicine elective for 3rd to 6th year medical students titled “Prospective Physicians For Fibre (PPFF)” to promote students’ knowledge about the importance of fibre and its benefits in health and disease. Methods: The four-week fibre-focused, mixed-methods, short-term, culinary medicine elective PPFF was tested in a non-controlled pilot study. Students’ fibre intake and knowledge about fibre were compared in a pre-post design in n = 47 participants. Results: Participants had a median age of 24 years; females accounted for 72% of the sample. Mean fibre intake based on 2-day weighed food diaries increased from 29.52 ± 10.72 to 38.40 ± 12.14 g/d after the elective (P