Should doctors be taught nutition?

"The public-health community has come to recognize it can’t hope to address obesity and diabetes without addressing the farm bill."

A thought-provoking quote from Michael Pollan's (of 'The Omnivore's Dilemma' fame) essay on how US farm legislation subsidizes -- and thus promotes -- the growth of corn, soy and rice, crops that allow for mass production of cheap food lacking nutrition and filled with calories (e.g., the twinkie) and thus directly (following the chain of events) lead to increase rates of obesity.

Healthcare workers can't overcome the legislative incentives. In other words they can't directly change what most farms raise. But they can promote diets more conducive to healthy living and less conducive to gaining unnecessary weight. That was my 'takeaway' from the essay.

I've often thought that med school (as well as dental school) needs to teach its students about nutrition. Not just what deficiencies in vitamins lead to (conditions we don't see often in this country like marasmus, goiter, scurvy and kwashiokor), but rather how taking in certain molecules are linked to better cardiovascular and mental health (like omega-3 fatty acid is) or how particular eating habits prevent cancer (as does eating a diet heavy in vegetables and fruits).

And schools ought not only teach these things, they ought to show these associations are in fact scientifically supported if not proven and encourage students to give these 'health tips' to patients when they are working in the outpatient or clinics setting. This would get the message out more effectively, and help the system convert to a more preventive health orientation.

Of course some will charge that there are nutritionists to do this type of promotion. I agree. They certainly do good. But if doctors aren't singing the same tune and are oblivious to what people ought to be eating to prevent becoming obese, then the message becomes diluted or weak.

So I'm not saying docs should be nutrition to replace nutritionist. Rather, I'm saying that docs ought to learn it so that everyone on the healthcare team is on the same page, and so patients are being taught from all sides what is good for the body.