Status of evolutionary medicine within the field of nutrition and dietetics

Abstract

Lay SummaryThrough an online survey of nutrition and dietetic professionals and students, we learned there is interest to incorporate evolutionary medicine into the nutrition and dietetics field and education programs.Background and objectivesEvolutionary medicine is an emerging field that examines the evolutionary significance of modern disease to develop new preventative strategies or treatments. While many areas of interest in evolutionary medicine and public health involve diet, we currently lack an understanding of whether nutrition and dietetics professionals and students appreciate the potential of evolutionary medicine.MethodologyCross-sectional online survey to measure the level of appreciation, applicability and knowledge of evolutionary medicine among nutrition and dietetics professionals and students. We then examined the relationships between support of evolutionary medicine and (i) professionals and students, (ii) US region, (iii) religious belief and (iv) existing evolutionary knowledge.ResultsA total of 2039 people participated: students (n = 893) and professionals (n = 1146). The majority of the participants agree they are knowledgeable on the theory of evolution (59%), an understanding of evolution can aid the nutrition and dietetics field (58%), an evolutionary perspective would be beneficial in dietetics education (51%) and it is equally important to understand both the evolutionary and direct causes of disease (71%). Significant differences in responses between professionals and students suggest students are currently learning more about evolution and are also more supportive of using an evolutionary perspective. Whereas differences in responses by US region were minimal, differences by religious belief and prior evolutionary knowledge were significant; however, all responses were either neutral or supportive at varying strengths.Conclusion and implicationsThere is interest among professionals and students to incorporate evolutionary medicine into the nutrition and dietetics field and education programs.

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“…This disconnect is an important barrier to incorporation of evolutionary explanations into patient education. For example, a survey of nutrition and dietetics professionals and students found that less than half reported that they were likely to provide an evolutionary explanation of a condition or disease to a patient or client [ 45 ]. We therefore explore how the mismatch narrative can be tailored to avoid provoking controversy among patients with barriers to acceptance of evolution.…”

The Mummy Explorer—a self-regulated open-access online teaching tool

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Dietary Habits and Anthropometric Measures of a Dental Student Population

“…However, few studies to date have evaluated the current dietary habits and behaviors of dental students in the United States [14]. Some information is known about the training and assessment of medical students, although these studies are also relatively rare [15][16][17]. As more dental and medical students incorporate diet and nutrition studies into the curriculum, it becomes more important to understand the current state of medical and dental student dietary habits to focus on specific areas of concern [18][19][20].…”