Are you wondering if there are any benefits to adding a nutritionist to your practice? The answer is a resounding yes! There are many benefits to adding a nutritionist to your practice!  According to the World Health Organization, http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/facts/obesity/en/, obesity has reached epidemic proportions around the globe.  More than one billion people are overweight, more than 300 of them are considered obese.

Studies have shown that being overweight or obese often leads to a plethora of health-related issues such as:

·        Heart Disease

• Type 2 diabetes
• Sleep Apnea
• Cancer
• High blood pressure

There are many factors that contribute to a person being overweight or obese; sedentary lifestyle or lack of exercise, poor nutritional intake, environmental factors, economic factors, and for some people genetics plays a major role.  What studies have also shown is that poor nutrition is a major cause of obesity.  While it is impossible for a person to change their genetic history, eating a healthy diet of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, good carbohydrates, lean protein and exercising prevents weight gain and obesity.

Each year, billions of dollars are spent on weight loss products or weight loss surgeries.  Sadly enough, health insurers and medical practitioners do not anticipate this number to go down.  The CDC has clearly sounded the alarm; the National Estimated Cost of Obesity is enormous and the medical care costs of obesity in the United States are staggering. In 2008 dollars, these costs totaled about $147 billion (Finkelstein, 2009). 

The challenge facing many healthcare practitioners and healthcare organizations today is how to educate patients to challenge them to incorporate healthy nutrition and exercise into their lifestyles and to reverse the health issues plaguing society today, mainly caused by poor diet and lack of exercise.

Dietary Guidelines for Americans, (2010) published jointly by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA), provides advice about how good dietary habits for people aged 2 years and older can promote health and reduce risk for major chronic diseases.  

Research has proven that medication alone does not control or cure diseases like high blood pressure, cardiac disease, diabetes etc., a patient must adopt a healthy lifestyle consisting of good nutritional intake and exercise in order to reverse the debilitating effects of those diseases.  The benefit of adding a nutritionist to your practice is immeasurable for the following reasons:

·        Nutritionist and the doctors can work together as a team to determine the best approach to treat and/or resolve health problems for patients and sometime entire families. 

·        Patients are given the tools, educational classes, and support they need to achieve and maintain healthy lifestyles. 

·        Patients are given a very thorough medical evaluation that includes medical history, body mass index, medications, weight history (loss or gain), exercise, nutrition and current exercise routine.  Some morbidly obese patients may be evaluated for gastric bypass surgery or prescribed weight loss medication. 

Are you still wondering if there are any benefits to adding a Nutritionist to your practice, consider?  This should change your mind:  The costs of the obesity epidemic in the Unites States have strained the nation’s healthcare system. Annual direct healthcare costs for obesity-related chronic diseases (prevention, diagnosis, and treatment) have been estimated as high as $78.5 billion in recent years, an amount equivalent to 4.7 percent of all U.S. healthcare expenditures (Wolf & Colditz, 1998). Overall, obese individuals incur much higher costs for prescription drugs, hospitalization, and total healthcare when compared with similar persons of normal weight (Andreyeva, Sturm, & Ringel, 2004).

Easy access to care and medication alone is no cure for the preventable diseases caused by obesity.  As you have read and the research has shown, a healthy lifestyle and good nutrition is the key to the reduction and even eradication of diseases such as obesity, heart disease and even some cancers.  Do yourself and your patients a favor; hire a nutritionist today, the benefits are immeasurable.

Each year, billions of dollars are spent on weight loss products or weight loss surgeries.  Sadly enough, health insurers and medical practitioners do not anticipate this number to go down.  The CDC has clearly sounded the alarm; the National Estimated Cost of Obesity is enormous and the medical care costs of obesity in the United States are staggering. In 2008 dollars, these costs totaled about $147 billion (Finkelstein, 2009). 

The challenge facing many healthcare practitioners and healthcare organizations today is how to educate patients to challenge them to incorporate healthy nutrition and exercise into their lifestyles and to reverse the health issues plaguing society today, mainly caused by poor diet and lack of exercise.

Dietary Guidelines for Americans, (2010) published jointly by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA), provides advice about how good dietary habits for people aged 2 years and older can promote health and reduce risk for major chronic diseases.