Training for Healthcare Providers Should Include the Connections between Nutrition and Better Health
CRN welcomes HHS Secretary Kennedy’s announcement calling on America’s medical education organizations to implement comprehensive nutrition education and training for the nation’s emerging healthcare professionals. The dietary supplement industry has been urging for more instruction for healthcare providers for years, noting that many providers have little or no formal education in nutrition and its role in prevention and better health.
Through the association, CRN’s members (companies in the dietary supplement and functional food industry) have already developed and provided nutrition education to healthcare professionals to supplement their lack of training in this area. Just in the past year, CRN has offered education for pharmacists on the role of vitamin D in health maintenance, hosted education for doctors on the critical role of prenatal supplements for the health of mothers and babies, and provided continuing education programs for dietitians on the risks created by nutrition gaps and how supplements can help fill them.
“We’ve been calling on schools of medicine, pharmacy and dietetics to acknowledge the relationship between nutrition and better health as well as a proper role for dietary supplements. Poor diets are not without consequence. It’s encouraging to hear the Administration sound similar alarms that healthcare providers should get this training before they are certified to practice,” said CRN President & CEO Steve Mister.
“Too often, when consumers ask about supplements or seek advice from their providers about their supplement regimens, these conversations get shut down instead of fostering an informed dialogue. We can do better,” Mister continued. CRN pointed to the wealth of research supporting the benefits of supplementation for health, illustrated by the NIH’s Office of Dietary Supplements Fact Sheets on a wide range of supplements, and noted that healthcare providers should be aware of these resources and have an open mind when their patients talk about their supplement usage.
According to CRN’s most recent consumer survey, three-quarters of Americans use dietary supplements, and 91 percent of supplement users say these products are ‘essential’ to their wellness regimens.