Healthify your supermarket choices.
March is National Nutrition Month. Why Doesn’t it Help?
March is National Nutrition Month. It was created in the 1970’s by the American Dietetic Association as a means of raising awareness of nutritious eating and promoting the role of registered dietitians in helping us stay lean and healthy.
The ADA website has a special section dedicated to “NNM”. In it, some interesting features, including an interactive history of fad diets and a rather lame interactive quiz. Plus a ton of educational materials and suggestions.
What you need to know:
Unfortunately, despite the ADA’s efforts, obesity rates have skyrocketed in the last decades. There are many reasons for this, including gargantuan budgets for marketing by the food industry, versus very tiny budgets of health and diet groups. When was the last time you saw a 30 second commercial for healthy eating? But you mostly likely saw 50 fast food and junk food spots just in the last week.
Additionally, human nature is such that it’s easier to buy cheap and tasty junk food rather than prepare your own healthy food at home.
Visiting a dietitian for a consultation is so expensive ($100-200 an hour), that most people can’t afford it. Only if you become diabetic or your kidneys fail does your health insurance kick in and allow you to see an RD.
Should the ADA be much more aggressive in its activities and position on diet related issues? Take a look at how PETA manages to create awareness to their cause through creative marketing and absolutely no limitations imposed by industry sponsorships. Unfortunately, the ADA receives donations from corporate sponsors, that may have an effect on the types of messages sent out to the public, and if not that, at least their tone.
Here’s an example:
If you consult with a dietitian wanting to lose weight, one of the first and easiest suggestions is to switch from soft drinks and juices to plain water. However, as a collective, it is hard for the ADA to come out with such a message because the organization is sponsored by Coca Cola and Pepsi. That’s why you’ll get a watered-down message (reverse pun intended) talking about “consuming in moderation”.
What do you think the ADA can do to really make an impact on America’s waistline?
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If there is one word I hate it’s “moderation”!
We’ve done more damage to ourselves and our kids in the name of “moderation” than just about any other word. (“light” as in light cigarettes comes in a close second!)
You’re spot on here. The ADA is a complete sellout. Another case of follow the money. While some RDs may have a decent Food IQ, the training and philosophy behind dietetics is not effective in creating sustainable health.
It’s time for a paradigm shift. Enough of the “n” word, its time to reconnect with the “F” word instead!
As always Hemi, controversial! I agree with you that it needs to be said and you know that the majority of dietitians also most likely agree with you. In a capitalistic society, how can we sell health when so much more money is made on products? Often when I read press releases about nutrition science, I’m dismayed at how the last thing mentioned in the release states how this research can support the development of new drugs to promote weight loss, control blood sugar…(you fill in the blank). Check out my take on National Nutrition Month http://bit.ly/af5Sl4. It’s a little softer than yours, but still addresses the lack of healthy food and lifestyle advertisements.
I feel that the ADA struggles because of its funding by big lobbyists like the National Dairy Council. If you look at their last conference, it was like a food industry event more than it was a nutrition event including an appearance from Tony the Tiger http://www.precisionnutrition.com/ada-conference-09. The ADA is also resistant to portraying nutrition as a therapeutic modality which keeps it in the same realm as “spa” services, something cutesy that rich and healthy people do. A stronger voice with food as medicine could allow more inclusino in insurance plans or insurance discount cards (and save more money over the longterm). $100-200 for an evaluation can be cheaper when you consider the long-term savings. I think the ADA needs to recognize and bond with other nutrition professionals and certifying bodies in the field of nutrition instead of competing. In practice, dieticians are vital to our health system but do only carry 4 year degrees, offering graduate training for health professionals with advanced degrees (in addition to their current continuing education) could help as well. Just some thoughts. Thanks for the post!
I think it is a stretch to assume that ADA should have been effective as a single organization in getting people to care about nutrition.
People can make a value judgment about eating healthy because it is the right thing to do. Does anyone really eat junk food and fast food and assume it is good for them because an advertisement said so? What about all the diet foods that people are told they need to be a healthy weight?
I’m taking a volunteer on a wellness makeover. We cleaned out her pantry this week and ditched the diet food. http://elitenutritiondc.com/ltl/
I know many dietitians with advanced degrees. Many have Master’s degrees (myself included, in fact, I have 10 years of schooling), also MDs, PhDs. As Hemi said, most people don’t have access to RDs because of the “out of pocket expense”. Imagine if an RD visit was as cheap as a dermatologist visit $10-20 copay? Something tells me we wouldn’t have the health care bills we do. Instead, it’s drive-thru cardiology.
Dietitians don’t need more education… people need to want to change and then have the equipment/support/resources to do so. It’s that simple. “Nothing changes until you do.” I know that first hand.
Thanks Hemi… you should keep your eyes open for any cool NNM related activities. Dietitians do nutrition all year round. Not just March!
I don’t know enough about ADA so I can’t make a comment whether they should be held accountable for our obesity problems. What I can say is that I have worked with many dietitians as part of my Ask the Expert column including Rebecca Scritchfield, your previous commenter. In my experience, they are very willing to get the word out about healthy eating and provide science based answers to nutrition questions. If you go to a dietitian when you are already suffering from serious health problems, I think it is too late. RD’s don’t have a magic wand! Neither does the ADA I believe, and politics of funding aside, I do have an impression that they are able to mobilize their network of RDs in doing something worthwhile for the public good.
RD’s can play a very important role in motivating the public in developing healthy habits. For that you don’t need multi-million dollar marketing campaigns. What you do need is a creative way of channeling their message to the public via social media.
I didn’t read the article as trying to lay the blame for the high rates of overweight and obesity on the ADA. The ADA’s reliance on funding from large food processors is troubling, however. I have little doubt that the association with large food producers is watering down the ADA’s message to the public. “Moderation” is a classic weasel word. Moderation to a dietitian may mean one or two indulgences a week. Moderation to the average person may mean two cookies a day instead of five.
More troubling to me, however, as someone who works in public health is how difficult it is to reach the people who most need the information. Twitter, Facebook, interactive quizzes on websites, and the like are not reaching large numbers of people who need to make healthy food choices, lose weight, control their diabetes, learn about heart disease, etc. Most of my program participants don’t know how to type and have no access to the internet. Yet the places I rely on to get information often say, “Tell them to go to our website and…” I think it is a cop out. It’s relatively easy to put up a website with beautiful graphics and quizzes and then count the hits each day. Actually interacting with people who desperately need accurate health information and ideas on how to change their lives is difficult, time-consuming, and frustrating, however.
Well said. I would have even been stronger against the ADA. They could definitely make a bigger difference. However they will be unable to as long as they accept funding from the food and pharmaceutical industries. Not all of us RD’s buy into this mediocrity. Moderation is killing Americans. I dropped my ADA membership several years ago because I could not support their mode of operation.