Nutrition education for the health-care provider improves patient outcomes

Abstract

Nutrition education is globally lacking in medical training, despite the fact that dietary habits are a crucial component of physician self-care, disease prevention, and treatment. Research has shown that a physician’s health status directly affects the quality of their preventative health counseling and patient outcomes, yet on average less than 20 hours over 4 years of medical education is spent teaching nutrition. This leaves providers with a gap in knowledge regarding this critical component of health. In a recent study, only 14% of resident physicians reported being adequately trained to provide nutritional counseling. Educating health-care professionals on how to eat well provides an opportunity to improve physician and patient well-being.