Obesity currently affects 42.4% of Americans, which is more than 2 in 5 adults. Obesity can lead to serious health conditions including type 2 diabetes, GERD, sleep apnea, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, joint disorders, and a variety of cancers. Taking action to improve or eliminate obesity can improve or cure these conditions, and two ways registered dietitians …
Obesity currently affects 42.4% of Americans, which is more than 2 in 5 adults. Obesity can lead to serious health conditions including type 2 diabetes, GERD, sleep apnea, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, joint disorders, and a variety of cancers.
Taking action to improve or eliminate obesity can improve or cure these conditions, and two ways registered dietitians can approach obesity are through either nutrition education or medical nutrition therapy (MNT). In this post, we will compare these two approaches and help you figure out what is the best route for you.
Nutrition education is a reinforcement of basic or essential nutrition-related knowledge. It focuses on educating patients on topics such as meal planning, nutrient content, portion sizes, and label reading. Nutrition education is a less intensive approach to treating obesity as compared to medical nutrition therapy, but is also provided by a registered dietitian. Unlike medical nutrition therapy, a physician referral is not needed.
Medical nutrition therapy similarly uses a supportive process to set priorities, establish goals, and create individualized action plans, which acknowledge and foster responsibility for self-care. However, MNT involves a more in-depth and individualized nutrition assessment. A dietitian uses the patient’s medical history, a physical examination, and a dietary history to help them develop an appropriate plan. The plan is reviewed with the patient, and the patient is then monitored at regular intervals to determine progress made and the need for modifications to the plan. MNT requires a physician referral.
Since fees for nutrition education are lower than those for medical nutrition therapy, most patients who choose nutrition education often struggle with obesity, but do not have the insurance coverage for medical nutrition therapy. The education is still tailored to the patient’s needs.
Most patients who choose medical nutrition therapy are deemed at nutritional risk, or have health problems such as type 2 diabetes.
Nutrition education: Individuals often sign up on their own or are encouraged by their primary care provider to make an appointment with dietetics and nutrition professionals. Most patients see advertising in newspapers and physicians’ offices.
MNT: For patients who end up in medical nutrition therapy, a written referral is often sent from their primary care provider to a registered dietitian. This referral includes current labs, medications, and other diagnoses.
Nutrition education: A dietetics professional asks the patient for their concerns and questions about cholesterol, fat, or sodium; they often send a brief questionnaire to the patient before their visit.
MNT: The registered dietitian either conducts a nutrition assessment on the patient using the MNT Evidence-Based Guide for Practice/Nutrition Protocol, or utilizes the best available knowledge and evidence along with the patient’s data and medical records.
Nutrition education: The dietetics professional identifies the nutrition problem as the patient’s lack of knowledge about healthy food choices or cooking techniques.
MNT: The dietetics professional makes an individualized diagnosis after analyzing the patient’s assessment data.
Nutrition education: The dietetics professional offers heart health nutrition information tailored to the individual’s specific needs.
MNT: The dietetics professional and the patient together set goals, a care plan, and follow-ups over multiple visits to assist with behavior/lifestyle changes relative to the nutrition problem and medical condition/disease(s).
Nutrition education: At the end of the visit, the dietetics professional checks if the individual’s needs are met (sometimes using a verbal or written post-test). They also contact the patient two to four weeks later to see if they are using new cooking techniques or selecting healthier foods.
MNT: The dietetics professional monitors the patient’s serum albumin, hemoglobin, GFR, weight (BMI), goals for food plan/intake, and clinical and behavioral outcomes.
Nutrition education: If a referral was made by a physician, the dietetics professional sends a summary note to the patient’s primary care provider’s office regarding the nutrition education visit. If the client was self-referred, the dietetics professional maintains documentation of the client’s visit outcomes.
MNT: The dietetics professional documents the MNT initial assessment, nutrition diagnosis, and intervention(s) on the guide progress note forms, and shares this information with the patient’s physician, and keeps a copy on file.
Nutrition education: Thepre-visit and post-visit data are added to a collection of outcomes from many individual nutrition education visits, and there they are analyzed and reported to sponsors, employers, and funding agencies.
MNT: Based on the dietetics professional’s analysis, as well as a data review from the patient’s primary care provider and other health care professionals, the individual data is collected, analyzed, and shared with the quality improvement department/group. These results are implemented to make improvements to MNT services.
Although one is more tailored to the individual’s needs, both nutrition education and medical nutrition therapy significantly help patients on their journey to a healthy weight.
