Health Philosophy of Dietitians and Its Implications for Life Satisfaction: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Studies of health providers suggest that satisfaction with life is related to their values and sense of purpose which is best achieved when their professional role is in harmony with personal philosophy. Cross-sectional surveys suggest that personal health beliefs and practices of health professionals influence their clinical counseling practices. However, little is known about the influence of health philosophy on the personal satisfaction with life for dietitians. This study recruited a randomly selected, cross-sectional sample to complete a self-administered online survey. An exploratory factor analysis of was conducted for 479 participants resulting in a two-factor solution, clinical (α = 0.914) and wellness (α = 0.894) perceptions of health. An index score for the following valid and reliable scales were calculated: satisfaction with life, health conception, and healthy lifestyle and personal control. Pearson correlation coefficients between scores were analyzed to determine the degree of relationship. Potential mediators were explored with multiple regression. The relationships between variables were tested with structural equation modeling using a multigroup comparison between genders. The male participants were removed from the overall model and were separately evaluated. Health philosophy that is oriented toward wellness, was positively and significantly associated with life satisfaction, r(462) = 0.103, p < 0.05. Participants with higher Healthy Lifestyle and Personal Control scores reported greater life satisfaction, r(462) = 0.27, p = 0.000. Healthy lifestyle alone predicted 8.8% of the variance in life satisfaction (R2 = 0.088, df 1462, p = 0.005). SEM confirmed the model had goodness-of-fit (χ2 = 2.63, p = 0.453). The satisfaction with life of dietitians is directly and positively influenced by a greater wellness orientation and personal healthy lifestyle practices. The effect of practice and lifestyle on life satisfaction appears to be greater for men.

Dietetics Program Directors in the United States Support Teaching Vegetarian and Vegan Nutrition and Half Connect Vegetarian and Vegan Diets to Environmental Impact

“…The response to our survey was slightly lower than anticipated. However, our response rate of 36% was higher than other national surveys of dietitians (30, 60–62, 71). Our survey was initially sent in the summertime, which may have been a time where program directors were away from campus, on vacation, or contending with other program issues such as accreditation site visits.…”

Keep Calm and Lead by Example: Healthy Lifestyles of Dietitians and Satisfaction with Life

“…The factor structure of the set of observed variables with confirmatory factor analysis tested the hypothesis that a relationship between these observed variables and their underlying latent constructs exist. The resulting path coefficients demonstrated that there was a small effect for lifestyle on life satisfaction for women (r=0.27, p<0.000) and a moderate effect for our small sample of men (r=0.694, p<0.000) as we described in a previous paper [21]. Although there was shared variance between healthy lifestyle and wellness philosophy, it was small and not significant (r=0.028, p=0.521).…”

“…Self-reported variables such licenses or certifications held and specific integrative therapies were included as measures of role identity and practice specialization. The health philosophy of registered dietitians was described in greater detail in our previous paper [21].…”

Satisfaction of nutritionists who work in food service

“…Not only the nutritionists' attributions [7] influence their job satisfaction, but also the knowledge acquired during undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Moreover, Grace-Farfaglia et al [17] found that life satisfaction of US nutritionists were influenced directly and positively by a greater orientation towards wellness and a healthy lifestyle. Thus, undergraduate courses should comprise modules on wellness and health self-management, which contribute to life satisfaction.…”

“…Fifty years after the regulation of the nutritionist profession in Brazil -guaranteed by the enactment of Law No.5276/1967 and later by Law No.8234/1991 [14,15] -and development of several career opportunities in food service, there has been little evidence on the job satisfaction of these professionals in this area in the last years, both in Brazil [11] and in other countries [12,[16][17][18].…”