The Importance of Physicians' Nutrition Literacy in the Management of Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Despite pharmacological advances in diabetes treatment, medical nutrition therapy (MNT) continues to be an essential component of diabetes management. Nonetheless, physicians have missed opportunities to provide nutrition counseling to their patients. This presents a problem because type 2 diabetes is an epidemic with severe consequences that result from non-adherence to nutrition protocols. The goals of this article are: 1) to explore reasons for the continued paucity of nutrition education in medical training programs, 2) to describe how a power educative approach can be used to improve patient outcomes, and 3) to identify considerations for improving nutrition literacy among physicians. These analyses lead to several recommendations for improving nutrition education for physicians.