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‘An apple a day’?: Psychiatrists, psychologists and psychotherapists report poor literacy for nutritional medicine: international survey spanning 52 countries
While nutritional interventions are known to have a positive effect on psychiatric disorders and various diseases, this 2021 study addresses the limited amount of data on the nutritional literacy of mental health professionals. Surveys were distributed all over the world to test mental health workers on their general nutrition knowledge, and to collect information on whether or not they received nutritional education and their tendency to recommend food supplements or prescribe specific diets in clinical practice. The aim was to assess professionals from 52 different countries. A total of 1056 mental health professionals (MHPs) participated in this study, including 354 psychiatrists, 511 psychologists, 44 psychotherapists, and 147 MHPs in-training. All the respondents believed that the dietary quality of patients with mental disorders were poorer than the general population. With regards to education, most psychiatrists and psychologists had never received training in nutrition. But many of these healthcare workers used nutritional approaches. Around 59% recommended supplements, while 43.8% suggested specific diet strategies to their patients. The survey also uncovered that only 0.8% of respondents rated their nutritional education as “very good”. Almost every participant expressed their desire to improve their knowledge on “nutritional psychiatry”. This article emphasizes the urgent need for further nutritional education in the training program of mental health professionals. [NPID: nutritional psychiatry, nutrition, diet, review, mental health professionals, nutritional education, nutritional literacy]
Year: 2021
