A joint position paper from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the American Council on Exercise states that nutrition and physical activity interventions delivered by qualified practitioners can decrease risk of cardiovascular diseases and improve lifestyle behaviors among adults.
“The journey toward better health is unique for everyone, but working with qualified nutrition and exercise experts has shown to be effective for a majority of American adults. The issue we face as a nation are the barriers that prevent access to individualized treatments,” said registered dietitian nutritionist Livleen Gill, the Academy’s 2024-2025 president. “This paper demonstrates the importance of an interprofessional team approach in helping clients incorporate sustainable lifestyle behaviors for achieving long-term health outcomes.”
The paper shows that individuals who consistently attain a nutritious diet and adequate physical activity have improved overall health and lower incidence of non-communicable diseases compared to their counterparts, which contributes to lower health care costs. The most effective interventions may come from developing and maintaining an interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP). This allows practitioners to provide clients with comprehensive treatment plans while staying within their scopes of practice. An IPCP network can include a variety of health care professionals such as medical doctors, mental health counselors, physical therapists, psychologists, social workers and nurses.
“Non-communicable diseases are among the leading global health issues, making it crucial to have well-aligned experts working to support individuals aiming to improve their health,” said Sabrena Jo, ACE senior director of Science and Research. “Working together, exercise professionals and registered dietitians are a perfect example of this kind of collaboration. By combining expertise in physical activity and nutrition they can develop comprehensive interventions that enhance health. This can lead to adopting sustainable healthy habits, and improving overall well-being, thereby fostering a more health-conscious society."
As stated in the paper, qualified nutrition and exercise practitioners can provide client-specific, individualized recommendations to support a client’s goals. However, with this comes several hurdles, including challenges nutrition and exercise practitioners may encounter themselves. The paper aims to identify the barriers faced by nutrition and exercise practitioners and propose solutions to enhance the efficacy of nutrition and physical activity interventions to prevent disease and improve health for adults in the general population.
To learn more or read the full position paper, visit https://www.jandonline.org/article/S2212-2672(24)00540-9/abstract.