Objectives of Diet Counseling
Diet counseling teaches techniques to improve nutrition and reduce chronic disease risk factors for enhanced quality of life.
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Function
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Nutrition professionals use goal setting and individualized plans to change health behaviors. Nutrition counseling utilizes learner-centered techniques to encourage clients to take more responsibility for self-care.
Types
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Diet counseling varies according to nutrition concern and client. Expectant mothers, professional athletes, those seeking weight loss or disease prevention or any individual with illness or injury can benefit from counseling. Nutrition counseling develops into Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) when a registered dietitian uses a nutrition care process model for disease management in the clinical setting.
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Features
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Comprehensive diet counseling includes: screening, assessment, diagnosis, intervention, monitoring and evaluation. Clients are first screened to assess if the individual is at nutritional risk. Nutritional assessment includes: medical and social histories and dietary analysis, anthropometric and biochemical data and clinical assessment. Intervention incorporates a nutrition care plan with goals, recommendations and learning needs of the patient.
Significance
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Nutrition counseling by registered dietitians proves effective in clinical trials. In one study of adults at-risk for cardiovascular disease done at the University of Michigan Medical Center, intensive diet counseling improved outcomes on patient's knowledge, perceptions, diet and blood lipid levels compared to those not receiving counseling.
Warning
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Certain nutrition practices prove questionable. If the practitioner suggests hair analysis, diet by blood type, computerized nutrient deficiency tests, high dosage of vitamins or sells vitamins during the course of diet counseling, the legitimacy of the nutrition professional should be questioned.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of D. Sharon Pruitt
