Vegetarian and Vegan Diets: Beliefs and Attitudes of General Practitioners and Pediatricians in France

Abstract

Studies suggest a decreasing trend in the consumption of meat products and a growing interest in vegetarian diets. Medical support may be relevant, especially when switching to a vegan diet. Our objective was to describe the beliefs and attitudes of primary care physicians toward vegetarian diets. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among general practitioners and pediatricians thorough a questionnaire including socio-demographic characteristics, specific care to vegetarians, and the risks and benefits of vegetarian diets according to physicians. Out of the 177 participating physicians, 104 (59%) have seen at least one vegetarian patient in consultation in the last three months. Half of the physicians declared that they would dissuade their patients from switching to a vegan diet (n = 88, 51%) and 14% (n = 24) from switching to an ovo-lacto-vegetarian (OLV) diet. Most physicians (n = 141, 88%) did not feel informed enough about these diets. Physicians thought that the most frequent deficiencies for OLV and vegan diets were iron (76% and 84%, respectively) and protein (45% and 79%, respectively). These results highlight the fact that French primary care physicians feel concerned by this subject and need more information on these diets. Specific recommendations would be useful to support their practice and relationship with vegetarians.

Experiences of Vegans with General Practitioners in the Austrian Health Care System: A Qualitative Study

“…This study highlights the importance of more interdisciplinary collaboration between health professionals and the inclusion of nutrition-specific education in medical training. The results are similar to those of Villette et al, showing gaps in knowledge about a vegan lifestyle among GPs [30]. It also confirms other studies.…”

“…On the other hand, medical students and residents report less nutrition-specific training [25,28], calling for more emphasis in medical school curricula worldwide [29]. A French study also highlighted these knowledge gaps, finding that 50% of physicians preferred to adapt their routine patient care to individual dietary choices [30].…”

Forty-five years of research on vegetarianism and veganism: A systematic and comprehensive literature review of quantitative studies

“…This is an important shortcoming, given that data-driven methods are less likely to offer clear theoretical perspectives to help analyze results [ 292 ]. We agree with Schoenfeld [ 293 ] that “theory is, or should be, the soul of the empirical scientist” [p [ 105 ]]. Theory-driven approach is especially important in quantitative research owing to its deductive logic based on “a priori theories.” [ [ 294 ] p312].…”

Risk Assessment of Micronutrients Deficiency in Vegetarian or Vegan Children: Not So Obvious

“…The underlying problem is the frequent ignorance of the ins and outs of such diets and the solutions to be provided. This is the result of a lack of nutritional education and training in medical schools and postgraduate courses [118][119][120][121][122].…”