Nutrition education in european medical schools: results of an international survey

Nutrition education in european medical schools: results of an international survey

Play all audios:

Loading...

ABSTRACT Consumers and patients are unsure of whom to trust for nutritional advice. Although medical doctors are seen as experts in nutrition and their advice is regularly followed, data are lacking on the amount of nutrition education in European medical school curricula. In line with US research, we distributed a survey on required and/or optional nutrition contact hours to medical education directors of all accredited medical schools (_N_=217) in Western European Union countries (_N_=14). In total, respondents from 32 medical schools (14.7%) from 10 countries indicated that nutrition education, in some form, was required in 68.8% of schools where, on average, 23.68 h of required nutrition education was provided. The results from this small-scale survey are comparable to a 2010 US study; conversely, European educators were satisfied with the amount of nutrition education. We substantiate the increasing concern over the inadequate amounts of nutrition education provided to medical students in Europe. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution Subscribe to this journal Receive 12 print issues and online access $259.00 per year only $21.58 per issue Learn more Buy this article * Purchase on SpringerLink * Instant access to full article PDF Buy now Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout ADDITIONAL ACCESS OPTIONS: * Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS ASSESSMENT OF HIGH SCHOOL LEARNERS’ FAMILIARITY WITH NUTRITION EDUCATION PRINCIPLES Article 14 August 2020 BLENDED NUTRITION EDUCATION WITH REAL-LIFE SCENARIOS ENHANCES LEARNING AND NUTRITIONAL COUNSELING CAPABILITIES IN NURSING STUDENTS Article Open access 04 April 2025 THERAPEUTIC CARBOHYDRATE RESTRICTION PRE-COVID PANDEMIC: ASSESSING REGISTERED DIETITIANS’ KNOWLEDGE, USE AND PERCEIVED BARRIERS IN CANADA Article 09 August 2022 REFERENCES * European Commission, Eurostat Causes of death statistics - statistics explained 2013. Available from: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Causes_of_death_statistics (updated 14 May 2013; cited 2 June 2013). * Hiddink G, Hautvast J, Van Woerkum C, Fieren C, Van’t Hof M . Consumers’ expectations about nutrition guidance: the importance of primary care physicians. _Am J Clin Nutr_ 1997; 65: 1974S–1979SS. Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Adams KM, Kohlmeier M, Zeisel SH . Nutrition education in US medical schools: latest update of a national survey. _Acad Med_ 2010; 85: 1537–1542. Article  Google Scholar  * Adams KM, Lindell KC, Kohlmeier M, Zeisel SH . Status of nutrition education in medical schools. _Am J Clin Nutr_ 2006; 83: 941S–944S. Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Perez-Rodrigo C, Aranceta J . Nutrition education in schools: experiences and challenges. _Eur J Clin Nutr_ 2003; 57: S82–S85. Article  Google Scholar  * Taren DL, Thomson CA, Koff NA, Gordon PR, Marian MJ, Bassford TL _et al_. Effect of an integrated nutrition curriculum on medical education, student clinical performance, and student perception of medical-nutrition training. _Am J Clin Nutr_ 2001; 73: 1107–1112. Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Bocquier A, Verger P, Basdevant A, Andreotti G, Baretge J, Villani P _et al_. Overweight and Obesity: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of General Practitioners in France. _Obes Res_ 2005; 13: 787–795. Article  Google Scholar  * Mowe M, Bosaeus I, Rasmussen HH, Kondrup J, Unosson M, Rothenberg E _et al_. Insufficient nutritional knowledge among health care workers? _Clin Nutr_ 2008; 27: 196–202. Article  Google Scholar  * Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research FAIMER International Medical Education Directory 2011. Available from: http://www.faimer.org/resources/imed.html (updated October 12, 2011; cited 20 April 2013). * Weinsier RL, Boker JR, Brooks CM, Kushner RF, Visek WJ, Mark DA _et al_. Priorities for nutrition content in a medical school curriculum: a national consensus of medical educators. _Am J Clin Nutr_ 1989; 50: 707–712. Article  CAS  Google Scholar  Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We express our gratitude to Kelly Adams, MPH, RD, Assistant Project Director and Research Associate, Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for the original survey. In addition, we thank Dr Bridget Maher, Lecturer Clinical Science and Practice, School of Medicine, University College Cork for her invaluable input. We further thank Laura Borile and Gabriella Ortiz, research assistants at the Department of Human Biology, Maastricht University for translating the survey and helping with data collection in Italy and Spain. AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS FJPHB and VJvB designed the research. MC, VJvB and NN conducted the research. All authors analyzed the data and VJvB performed statistical analysis. MC, VJvB, EW and NN wrote the base paper. MC was primarily responsible for final editing and FB and VJvB were primarily responsible for final content. All authors read and analyzed the cited literature; all authors read and approved the final manuscript. AUTHOR INFORMATION Author notes * M Chung and V J van Buul: These authors contributed equally to this work. AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, School of Nutrition Toxicology and Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands M Chung, E Wilms & F J P H Brouns * Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands V J van Buul * Department of Neurology & Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany N Nellessen Authors * M Chung View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * V J van Buul View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * E Wilms View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * N Nellessen View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * F J P H Brouns View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to F J P H Brouns. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no conflict of interest. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Chung, M., van Buul, V., Wilms, E. _et al._ Nutrition education in European medical schools: results of an international survey. _Eur J Clin Nutr_ 68, 844–846 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.75 Download citation * Received: 18 January 2014 * Revised: 06 March 2014 * Accepted: 21 March 2014 * Published: 30 April 2014 * Issue Date: July 2014 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.75 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

ABSTRACT Consumers and patients are unsure of whom to trust for nutritional advice. Although medical doctors are seen as experts in nutrition and their advice is regularly followed, data are


lacking on the amount of nutrition education in European medical school curricula. In line with US research, we distributed a survey on required and/or optional nutrition contact hours to


medical education directors of all accredited medical schools (_N_=217) in Western European Union countries (_N_=14). In total, respondents from 32 medical schools (14.7%) from 10 countries


indicated that nutrition education, in some form, was required in 68.8% of schools where, on average, 23.68 h of required nutrition education was provided. The results from this small-scale


survey are comparable to a 2010 US study; conversely, European educators were satisfied with the amount of nutrition education. We substantiate the increasing concern over the inadequate


amounts of nutrition education provided to medical students in Europe. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution


ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution Subscribe to this journal Receive 12 print issues and online access $259.00 per year only $21.58 per issue Learn more Buy this article *


Purchase on SpringerLink * Instant access to full article PDF Buy now Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout ADDITIONAL ACCESS OPTIONS: * Log in * Learn


about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS ASSESSMENT OF HIGH SCHOOL LEARNERS’ FAMILIARITY WITH NUTRITION EDUCATION


PRINCIPLES Article 14 August 2020 BLENDED NUTRITION EDUCATION WITH REAL-LIFE SCENARIOS ENHANCES LEARNING AND NUTRITIONAL COUNSELING CAPABILITIES IN NURSING STUDENTS Article Open access 04


April 2025 THERAPEUTIC CARBOHYDRATE RESTRICTION PRE-COVID PANDEMIC: ASSESSING REGISTERED DIETITIANS’ KNOWLEDGE, USE AND PERCEIVED BARRIERS IN CANADA Article 09 August 2022 REFERENCES *


European Commission, Eurostat Causes of death statistics - statistics explained 2013. Available from:


http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Causes_of_death_statistics (updated 14 May 2013; cited 2 June 2013). * Hiddink G, Hautvast J, Van Woerkum C, Fieren C, Van’t


Hof M . Consumers’ expectations about nutrition guidance: the importance of primary care physicians. _Am J Clin Nutr_ 1997; 65: 1974S–1979SS. Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Adams KM,


Kohlmeier M, Zeisel SH . Nutrition education in US medical schools: latest update of a national survey. _Acad Med_ 2010; 85: 1537–1542. Article  Google Scholar  * Adams KM, Lindell KC,


Kohlmeier M, Zeisel SH . Status of nutrition education in medical schools. _Am J Clin Nutr_ 2006; 83: 941S–944S. Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Perez-Rodrigo C, Aranceta J . Nutrition


education in schools: experiences and challenges. _Eur J Clin Nutr_ 2003; 57: S82–S85. Article  Google Scholar  * Taren DL, Thomson CA, Koff NA, Gordon PR, Marian MJ, Bassford TL _et al_.


Effect of an integrated nutrition curriculum on medical education, student clinical performance, and student perception of medical-nutrition training. _Am J Clin Nutr_ 2001; 73: 1107–1112.


Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Bocquier A, Verger P, Basdevant A, Andreotti G, Baretge J, Villani P _et al_. Overweight and Obesity: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of General


Practitioners in France. _Obes Res_ 2005; 13: 787–795. Article  Google Scholar  * Mowe M, Bosaeus I, Rasmussen HH, Kondrup J, Unosson M, Rothenberg E _et al_. Insufficient nutritional


knowledge among health care workers? _Clin Nutr_ 2008; 27: 196–202. Article  Google Scholar  * Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research FAIMER International


Medical Education Directory 2011. Available from: http://www.faimer.org/resources/imed.html (updated October 12, 2011; cited 20 April 2013). * Weinsier RL, Boker JR, Brooks CM, Kushner RF,


Visek WJ, Mark DA _et al_. Priorities for nutrition content in a medical school curriculum: a national consensus of medical educators. _Am J Clin Nutr_ 1989; 50: 707–712. Article  CAS 


Google Scholar  Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We express our gratitude to Kelly Adams, MPH, RD, Assistant Project Director and Research Associate, Department of Nutrition, University


of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for the original survey. In addition, we thank Dr Bridget Maher, Lecturer Clinical Science and Practice, School of Medicine, University College Cork for her


invaluable input. We further thank Laura Borile and Gabriella Ortiz, research assistants at the Department of Human Biology, Maastricht University for translating the survey and helping with


data collection in Italy and Spain. AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS FJPHB and VJvB designed the research. MC, VJvB and NN conducted the research. All authors analyzed the data and VJvB performed


statistical analysis. MC, VJvB, EW and NN wrote the base paper. MC was primarily responsible for final editing and FB and VJvB were primarily responsible for final content. All authors read


and analyzed the cited literature; all authors read and approved the final manuscript. AUTHOR INFORMATION Author notes * M Chung and V J van Buul: These authors contributed equally to this


work. AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, School of Nutrition Toxicology and Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University,


Maastricht, The Netherlands M Chung, E Wilms & F J P H Brouns * Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University, Maastricht,


The Netherlands V J van Buul * Department of Neurology & Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany N Nellessen Authors * M Chung View author publications You can also


search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * V J van Buul View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * E Wilms View author publications You can


also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * N Nellessen View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * F J P H Brouns View author


publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to F J P H Brouns. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no


conflict of interest. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Chung, M., van Buul, V., Wilms, E. _et al._ Nutrition education in European


medical schools: results of an international survey. _Eur J Clin Nutr_ 68, 844–846 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.75 Download citation * Received: 18 January 2014 * Revised: 06


March 2014 * Accepted: 21 March 2014 * Published: 30 April 2014 * Issue Date: July 2014 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.75 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link


with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt


content-sharing initiative