The Importance Of Nutrition In Public Health

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Recommended: Important role of the public health dietician

Public health dietitians combine their scientific knowledge of food and nutrition with public health to try to reduce the rates of obesity and diabetes in NZ, by improving diet and nutrition. Their work, which includes community initiatives to promote better nutrition, therefore improves the health outcomes in NZ with respect to diet related diseases (Howatson & Wall, 2014). They can also help reduce the financial strain obesity and type 2 diabetes have on the health care system. Prevention is often cheaper than treatments. Preventing obesity and its related diseases would be much easier and more cost-effective than to treat the chronic long term illnesses related to obesity (Ministry Of Health, 2001). Furthermore, international literature on dietetics have also shown that dietitians working in public health can contribute positively to …show more content…

Type 2 Diabetes rate is also increasing, 3.8% in 1996/97 to 5.5% in 2011/12 (MOH, 2012). Society is becoming increasingly obesogenic; obesity is set to become the leading risk factor of health (MOH, 2016). Therefore, reducing the burden of obesity is an important public health issue due to its mortality, morbidity rate and economic burden (Howatson & Wall, 2014). Public health dietitians can help to reduce this burden of obesity, especially because diet and nutrition play such a significant role in obesity, diabetes and CVD. Therefore, public health dietitians are increasingly needed in NZ, to, promote a healthier lifestyle and decrease obesity rates (Howatson & Wall, 2014). With the number of diet trends and fads increasing, more public health dietitians are needed to provide clear, well-informed, scientific –based and accurate information about nutrition and diet to the public, to increase health literacy and education (Howatson & Wall,

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