Registered Dietitians - A Cost Effective Investment In Health For Canadians

Main Category: Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 22 Jul 2009 - 4:00 PST

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Dietitians of Canada (DC) released a report today describing the integral role played by registered dietitians, as members of multi-disciplinary teams that contribute to promoting and supporting health among Canadians. The Role of Registered Dietitians in Primary Health Care: Moving Forward - A National Perspective presents evidence for the cost-effectiveness of nutrition services in the prevention and treatment of chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, cancer and heart disease.

According to Dr. Paula Brauer, Associate Professor at the University of Guelph and co-author of the DC Role Paper, "Nutrition is one of the basic ways that people can better manage their own health. Dietitians, with their unique set of skills and food and nutrition expertise, provide needed support and guidance in both the public health and primary care systems."

In preparing this paper DC identified many successful programs and approaches that have been documented in the scientific literature where registered dietitians have played a key role and saved health care dollars:

- Improved health of children: Prenatal nutrition programs that target high-risk pregnant women have been shown to improve long-term health outcomes in children. The Montreal Diet Dispensary is an example of such an approach where individualized screening and diet counseling by registered dietitians, along with nutritious food supplements, have reduced the incidence of low birth weight and preterm births. It is estimated that these measures have saved up to $41 million annually in treatment costs. The Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program is a further example where the leadership and expertise of dietitians has led to reducing the risk of low birth weight infants and increasing the proportion of mothers who breastfeed.

- Prevention and treatment of obesity: Obesity prevention requires a multi-sector approach with efforts invested in all stages of the lifecycle. Registered dietitians working in public health promote the active living and healthy eating message in communities, schools and workplaces. For treatment of overweight and obesity, the Obesity Canada Clinical Practice Guidelines recommend comprehensive lifestyle intervention, including nutrition counseling provided by a registered dietitian. Support provided by registered dietitians in primary health care centres and doctors' offices has been shown to reduce the risk of developing diabetes by close to 60%, and with long-lasting results.

- Better chronic disease management. Nutrition and other lifestyle changes are cornerstones in the management of hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol.

In many cases these changes reduce medication costs and use of the health system. A dietitian-led program for adults with obesity and type 2 diabetes, which consisted of individual and group education, support and referrals to community resources over one year, was recently evaluated. This intervention, in comparison to usual care, led to modest reductions in health care costs resulting from fewer hospital admissions.

The DC Role Paper provides far-reaching recommendations, addressed to the dietetic profession, educators, researchers, health care practitioners and policy-makers, designed to enhance access by the public to the services of registered dietitians as a cost-effective investment in the health of Canadians.

A copy of The Role of Registered Dietitians in Primary Health Care: Moving Forward - A National Perspective is available on the DC website at http://www.dietitians.ca/news/highlights_positions.asp

Source
Dietitians of Canada

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