Fact not fad – get a tailor-made diet to beat disease
This week is recognised as Dieticians Week and Review spoke to local dietician Anke van Waveren to find out more about the “Eat Fact Not Fiction” campaign.
POLOKWANE – ‘Eat Fact Not Fiction’ is the theme of Dietitian’s Week 2017, highlighting the important role of dietitians who are able to interpret nutrition science and dietary guidelines to customise nutrition advice for individual needs.
“This is vital because from weight loss to a disease such diabetes, there is no ‘one size fits all’ best eating plan. Dietitians happen to be health professionals trained and qualified to do this,” Van Waveren says.
Dieticians are specifically taught the skills required to interpret scientific evidence.
“To maintain our professional registration with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), all practising South African dietitians also have to undertake ongoing studies that ensure they keep up with the latest knowledge provided by new and emerging evidence, in accordance with the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme. This means we have the latest evidence-based food, health and disease expertise at our fingertips,” she continues.
The country’s broad strokes dietary guidelines, on which public health messages are based, and which were developed according to the process recommended by the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), have also evolved over the years, featuring a notable shift from the emphasis on nutrients to the focus on actual foods, which by nature contain a variety of nutrients. The Association for Dietetics in South Africa (ADSA) provides further clarity on the guidelines with its statement on the Optimal Nutrition for South Africans. The latest visual Food Guide from the Department of Health provides a very different picture from older models such as the Food Pyramid and represents the latest FAO recommendations.
“Diet is highly personal. What we eat is rooted in our culture and tradition, shaped by affordability and accessibility, and inextricably intertwined with highly variable lifestyle factors such as weight, physical activity, emotional connection to food and our consumption of non-food substances, as well as various physiological differences and genetics,” Van Weveren explains.
ADSA president and registered dietician, Maryke Gallagher says that if you take a disease such as diabetes, which is a prevalent lifestyle disease in the country, but can be managed through diet, each patient needs a tailor-made plan and focused support to make their individualised diet work towards their well-being and health. “When the situation demands change around something
as fundamental to life as food, then broad strokes are not necessarily sustainable solutions. The role that the dietician can play in helping the communities in which they work to secure healthy food systems that are good for both people and the planet is an emerging responsibility in the profession. Dietitians are increasingly involved in facets of our modern food systems including agriculture and alternative food production methods, natural resources and ecosystems, social justice and community health issues, as well as developing food policy and food systems research that takes sustainability into account,” Gallagher explains.
Van Waveren further says some people may associate dieticians with merely giving advice and support to someone who wants to lose weight, but dietitians work across a range of industries. “We are also experts in providing nutritional advice regarding serious diseases and conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, liver disease, kidney disease, cancers, HIV/AIDS, TB, throat,
stomach and intestinal disorders, as well as food allergies and intolerances, eating disorders, sports nutrition and life-stage nutrition, including the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding as the best start in life.”
Apart from dieticians in private practice, they work in hospitals and communities, academia and industries. In addition to consulting with patients, dietitians are also involved in research, nutrition training and development of provincial and national policies.
In the hopes of steering us clear of the latest trumped up ‘diets’ and promoting a return to genuine expertise and evidence, dietitians countrywide are suggesting that we ‘Eat Facts Not Fiction’.
