TY - JOUR
T1 - Medical Nutrition Education for Health, Not Harm
T2 - BMI, Weight Stigma, Eating Disorders, and Social Determinants of Health
AU - Gunsalus, Kearney T.W.
AU - Mixon, Jordan K.
AU - House, Ellen M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Effective nutrition training is fundamental to medical education. Current training is inadequate and can cause harm to students and patients alike; it leaves physicians unprepared to counsel on nutrition, places undue focus on weight and body mass index (BMI), can exacerbate anti-obesity bias, and increase risk for development of eating disorders, while neglecting social determinants of health and communication skills. Physicians and educators hold positions of influence in society; what we say and how we say it matters. We propose actionable approaches to improve nutrition education to minimize harm and pursue evidence-based, effective, and equitable healthcare.
AB - Effective nutrition training is fundamental to medical education. Current training is inadequate and can cause harm to students and patients alike; it leaves physicians unprepared to counsel on nutrition, places undue focus on weight and body mass index (BMI), can exacerbate anti-obesity bias, and increase risk for development of eating disorders, while neglecting social determinants of health and communication skills. Physicians and educators hold positions of influence in society; what we say and how we say it matters. We propose actionable approaches to improve nutrition education to minimize harm and pursue evidence-based, effective, and equitable healthcare.
KW - Eating disorders
KW - Health equity/social justice/social and structural determinants of health
KW - Medical nutrition education
KW - Weight stigma
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85189349553&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85189349553&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s40670-024-02025-9
DO - 10.1007/s40670-024-02025-9
M3 - Comment/debate
AN - SCOPUS:85189349553
SN - 2156-8650
JO - Medical Science Educator
JF - Medical Science Educator
ER -