{"id":70654,"date":"2020-04-30T09:00:01","date_gmt":"2020-04-30T07:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aprifel-pp.mentalworks.biz\/?post_type=article_revue&p=70654"},"modified":"2020-04-30T09:00:01","modified_gmt":"2020-04-30T07:00:01","slug":"importance-of-doctors-recommendation-on-diet-and-nutrition-data-on-disparities-among-the-us-adult-population-over-a-decade","status":"publish","type":"article_revue","link":"https:\/\/aprifel-pp.mentalworks.biz\/en\/global-fv-newsletter-article\/importance-of-doctors-recommendation-on-diet-and-nutrition-data-on-disparities-among-the-us-adult-population-over-a-decade\/","title":{"rendered":"Importance of doctors’ recommendation on diet and nutrition: Data on disparities among the US adult population over a decade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Decades of studies have shown the importance of proper nutrition in the health of individuals and populations. Although Americans have gradually adopted better eating habits, 90% of them still fall short of the American dietary recommendations (Healthy Eating Index \u2013 HEI). Poor eating habits are a major risk factor in four of the ten causes of preventable death: cardiovascular diseases, cancer, strokes and type-2 diabetes. One-third of premature deaths are attributed to improper dietary habits and sedentary lifestyle. Physicians are trustworthy and well respected for their expertise to guide their patients to healthy lifestyle including diet and nutrition.<\/p>\n

Nutritional awareness remains low among the general public and people have a poor idea of their own dietary intake balance. Even though those with a diet-related disease pay more attention to the quality of their food, they are still a long way off from following the HEI recommendations. Understanding dietary information remains difficult for many people, especially those from a poor socioeconomic background and thus are at a higher risk of suffering diet-related diseases. However, raising awareness alone is not the perfect solution. There is a need for an authoritative and trustworthy guidance.<\/p>\n

Effectiveness of dietary guidance from physicians<\/h1>\n

Patients are particularly receptive to counsel on healthy living which is provided during consultations with their doctor since they consider their doctor to be the best source of this type of information. As for the physicians, they are in a good position to help their patients adopt healthier habits in the long term. Short dietary-advice sessions are effective in changing the eating habits of patients and improving their health, especially among those who suffer or are at risk from diseases connected to poor diets.<\/p>\n

Reduce health expenditure by at least $87 billion a year!<\/h1>\n

If the benefits to individuals are indisputable, the use of such information across the country could have an even greater impact on the population. Direct and indirect health expenditure could be reduced by at least $87 billion every year, while deaths from coronary diseases or diabetes would fall by between 20% and 30%.<\/p>\n

In 2000, the Healthy People Objectives, under the aegis of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), underlined the importance of dietary counseling and even considered it a national health indicator. However, such counseling by doctors has remained infrequent. Nutritional counseling during consultations has only occurred among 14% of patients.<\/p>\n

Few studies have looked into the influence of associated factors on receiving dietary advice (socio-demographic characteristics, healthcare access, health condition, etc.), and their results have often proved contradictory. Furthermore, since the recommendations on such counseling, very few studies have examined the disparities between patients over an extended timeline and at a national level.<\/p>\n

National Health Interview Survey results for 2000 and 2011<\/h1>\n

To mitigate this deficiency, we used the 2000 and 2011 results of the National Health Interview Surveys (a cross-sectional study based on a wide representative sample of the American population). The receipt of dietary counseling was measured by asking subjects if they had talked to a doctor or healthcare professional during the previous 12 months and had received information on nutrition at that time.\u00a0 Six variables were selected to study their possible correlations with the medical advice: age, gender, ethnicity, education level, insurance coverage status and BMI.
\nFor the years 2000 and 2011, the sample comprised 23,656 and 26,937 subjects respectively. We used a logistic regression model to examine the correlations.<\/p>\n

Whereas only 23.7% subjects in 2000 had received nutritional counselling from their physician, the figure rose to 32.6% for 2011. During the same period, the percentage of subjects who were overweight or obese increased from 61.5% to 64%. Increase in nutritional counselling prevalence with:<\/p>\n