[HTML][HTML] Novel nutrition education approaches for health promotion: from investigating problems to finding solutions

G Moschonis, E Magriplis, A Zampelas�- Nutrients, 2021 - mdpi.com
Nutrients, 2021mdpi.com
The aim of the Nutrients Special Issue “Implications of Nutrition Education, for Health,
Behavior, and Lifestyle” is to publish original research articles and reviews that report the
design and implementation of nutrition education intervention programs and their
effectiveness in terms of lifestyle, health, and wellbeing. The importance of exploring this
field in depth is highlighted in this Special Issue, since nutrition education represents the
main means for training individuals and groups on the principles of good nutrition based on�…
The aim of the Nutrients Special Issue “Implications of Nutrition Education, for Health, Behavior, and Lifestyle” is to publish original research articles and reviews that report the design and implementation of nutrition education intervention programs and their effectiveness in terms of lifestyle, health, and wellbeing. The importance of exploring this field in depth is highlighted in this Special Issue, since nutrition education represents the main means for training individuals and groups on the principles of good nutrition based on their needs, thus making nutrition information digestible and usable in everyday life. According to the World Health Organization, nutrition is defined as “the intake of food in relation to the body’s dietary needs”. An adequate, well-balanced diet is a cornerstone of good health, has a great impact on wellbeing, and is reflected by dietary intake and behavior. Diet and behavior are highly modifiable factors that can help to prevent the emergence of new cases of lifestyle-related chronic conditions or ameliorate their progression. These factors can be modified using population-specific nutrition education techniques. Currently, a wide discrepancy exists in nutrition-related advice that originates from a wide range of different sources, many of which are unreliable and scientifically invalid, further underlining the need for nutrition education that is tailored to the specific requirements of the target population. Furthermore, although health professionals play a critical role in educating individuals in the clinic, the community, or a healthcare facility, nutrition education is not fully integrated with the training programs of most healthcare professions. This partly explains the public’s considerable confusion on what is considered correct nutritional advice, which is exacerbated by these discrepancies. Considering these challenges, fourteen very interesting papers have been published in this Special Issue, addressing different aspects of Nutrition Education, using various methodological approaches and study designs. More specifically, the Special Issue includes six observational studies, reporting various aspects or determinants that affect the development and implementation of nutrition education initiatives. In one of these studies, Carolina Archundia Herrera M. et al.[1] conducted one-on-one, semi-structured, open-ended, in-depth interviews, as part of which participants expressed their views and preferences on the content (ie, related to nutrition, physical activity, mental health, foot care, and consequences of type 2 diabetes (T2D)), features (ie, in terms of understanding the context, explicit information, individualized, hands-on learning, and whether these are applicable, realistic, incremental, and practical), and other components (ie, access to a multidisciplinary team, setting goals, monitoring and tracking of progress and be held accountable, one-on-one sessions, group support, maintenance/follow-up) of effective future diabetes management nutrition education programs, as well as on appropriate policy change required to support these initiatives.
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