By Christine Byrne, SELF
While nutrition is a science, food is personal, and healthy eating is a little bit different for everyone. There are so many factors that shape the way we eat—taste preferences, goals, schedules, food availability—and a person's cultural background has a huge impact on their relationship with food. The role of a registered dietitian is to counsel others on nutrition, so it's important that R.D.s be sensitive both to individual preferences and cultural differences when giving nutrition advice.
[post_ads]The thing is, when it comes to diversity, the nutrition field is lacking: Seventy-eight percent of all dietitians in the U.S. identify as white, according to the Commission of Dietetic Registration. There's also a lack of culturally diverse nutrition advice, both in official nutrition resources and in the media. Because of this, it's especially important that dietitians work to understand their clients' backgrounds and values around food, and that they give nutrition advice that's culturally sensitive and relevant.
To shed a little more light on a topic that's complicated and has so many implications, SELF asked seven registered dietitians from various cultural and ethnic backgrounds about the intersection of food and culture, why diversity in the nutrition field is so important, and how they work to give culturally sensitive nutrition advice in their own practices.
While nutrition is a science, food is personal, and healthy eating is a little bit different for everyone. There are so many factors that shape the way we eat—taste preferences, goals, schedules, food availability—and a person's cultural background has a huge impact on their relationship with food. The role of a registered dietitian is to counsel others on nutrition, so it's important that R.D.s be sensitive both to individual preferences and cultural differences when giving nutrition advice.
[post_ads]The thing is, when it comes to diversity, the nutrition field is lacking: Seventy-eight percent of all dietitians in the U.S. identify as white, according to the Commission of Dietetic Registration. There's also a lack of culturally diverse nutrition advice, both in official nutrition resources and in the media. Because of this, it's especially important that dietitians work to understand their clients' backgrounds and values around food, and that they give nutrition advice that's culturally sensitive and relevant.
To shed a little more light on a topic that's complicated and has so many implications, SELF asked seven registered dietitians from various cultural and ethnic backgrounds about the intersection of food and culture, why diversity in the nutrition field is so important, and how they work to give culturally sensitive nutrition advice in their own practices.
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