What do non-dietitian health professionals think about giving nutrition advice?

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Abstract

Given the prevalence of nutrition-related chronic disease in Australia and the relatively small number of dietitians especially outside metropolitan areas, it is important that all health professionals can support clients’ healthy eating practices by providing appropriate general nutrition advice. However, little is known regarding the nutrition advice practices and perspectives of non-dietitian health professionals. This study employed a survey methodology to capture nutrition advice practices and perspectives of non-dietitian health professionals, their level of nutrition knowledge, and understanding of their nutrition advice scope of practice. A total of 260 Australian non-dietitian health professionals from 26 different professions completed the survey. Participants were recruited via professional associations, social media platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn) and snowball sampling. The majority of participants (89.2%) believed giving nutrition advice was an important part of their role. The highest rated topic for provision of nutrition advice was ‘healthy eating’ (73.1%). On average, self-rated confidence to give nutrition advice was moderate to low and most participants rated their own level of nutrition knowledge on a 10-point scale as less than 5. More than half of the participants reported that nutrition was included in their professional degrees (60.0%) however for most (33.5%) it was only part of another subject.

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