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Objective: To identify and describe the use of the GRADE approach for rating the certainty of evidence in nutrition systematic reviews (SRs)., Study Design and Setting: We systematically searched for SRs using GRADE that were published between 2015 and 2019 in the 10 "nutrition" journals with the highest impact factor according to the JCR 2018., Results: Out of 800 SRs, 55 SRs of randomized control trials (RCTs) and/or nonrandomized studies (NRSs) used GRADE. Forty-seven SRs (5.9%) rated the outcome specific certainty of evidence (n = 36 in 2018/2019). We identified a total of 465 certainty of evidence outcome ratings (n = 335 RCT ratings), ranging from very-low (28.8%) to low (41%), moderate (26.5%), and high (3.7%). Very-low and high certainty of evidence ratings accounted for 61.4% and 0.8% of ratings in SRs of NRSs, compared to 16.1% and 4.8% in SRs of RCTs. Certainty of evidence was downgraded mostly for risk of bias (37.8%) and imprecision (33%) in SRs of RCTs and for imprecision (32.7%), risk of bias (29.4%) and inconsistency (29%) in SRs of NRSs., Conclusion: Our study suggests a need for directing more attention toward strengthening acceptance of GRADE as well as building knowledge of the GRADE methodology in nutrition evidence synthesis., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Objective: To explore undergraduate students self-reported learning experience in a foundation nutrition education course/unit delivered using a flipped classroom approach (FCA), which requires students to complete independent learning before and after interactive in-class learning experiences., Methods: A descriptive cohort study design used selected items from a self-report flipped classroom student engagement questionnaire to assess Australian undergraduate student (n = 105) engagement in the course/unit and compared with nonflipped courses, preference for FCA, academic achievement, learning behaviors for 3 FCA learning phases, and more or less engaging aspects of the course/unit., Results: Most (66.5%) students were engaged or very engaged, with half (55%) more engaged in this course/unit compared with other nonflipped courses/units with a preference for the FCA (53%). Almost half of the students agreed the FCA improved their academic performance (grade) (45%) and other academic skills (ie, teamwork) (48.5%). Most student comments related to the value of participate phase activities., Conclusions and Implications: The FCA engaged most students in learning and is an emerging learning and teaching approach appropriate for undergraduate nutrition dietetic education., (Copyright © 2019 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Our aim is to assess the changes in clinical nutrition and dietetics education of the residents in endocrinology and nutrition for the last 10 years., Methods: During the yearly update course in Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics held by SEEN, a survey about medical training is conducted since 2006. Descriptive data for the last 10 years are reported., Results: Every hospital accredited for medical training in endocrinology and nutrition has a unit of nutrition, depending on endocrinology and nutrition departments in 94.5%. While 13.3% of the residents required a different hospital for training in nutrition in 2006, all of them had enough resources in their own hospital in 2018. The training started in their third year of residency in 62.6%. The rotation has been increasing its length and now it lasts 6 months for 66% of the residents. 41.9% of the residents think it should be longer than 6 months. Education in dietetics should be extended the most. The residents take part in study protocols or publications in 72.5%, against only 27.9% in 2009. There is still a percentage of 10.1% to 19% of the residents grading their training in nutrition as insufficient., Conclusion: The residents consider their global training in nutrition has improved in these last 10 years, although there is still a chance for optimization in areas such as dietetics., (Copyright © 2019 SEEN y SED. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Aim: Competency standards are widely adopted as a framework to describe standards of performance required in the workplace. Little is known, however, about how students construct competence. This qualitative study aimed to explore how dietetics students ready to graduate construct the concept of competence and the role of assessment in developing professional competence., Methods: A qualitative description was used to gather data from a convenience sample of students ready to graduate from universities with accredited dietetics programs across Australia (10 out of 15 at the time of the study). A total of 11 focus groups were conducted to explore perspectives of competence and experiences of 'competency-based' assessment. Data were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using a thematic analysis approach., Results: A total of 81 (n = 81) participants across 10 universities representing 22% of total students participated in the focus groups. Themes revealed that: (i) there is no shared understanding of competence; (ii) current work placement experiences may not reflect current standards or workforce needs; (iii) assessment approaches may not fully support the development of competence; and (iv) the competent performance of supervising dietitians/clinical educators in the workplace influences the construction of competence., Conclusions: There is a need to work towards a shared understanding of dietetic entry-level competence in the profession. 'Work-based' learning experiences may need to be modified to ensure students meet current competency standards. Practitioners involved in student supervision need to acknowledge the influential role they have in the development of the future workforce., (© 2017 Dietitians Association of Australia.)

This article is the 12th installment in a statistical series exploring the importance of research design, epidemiologic methods, and statistical analysis as applied to nutrition and dietetics research. The purpose of this series is to assist registered dietitian nutritionists in interpreting nutrition research and aid nutrition researchers in applying scientific principles to produce high-quality nutrition research. This article focuses on the use of crossover designs in nutrition and dietetics research. The purpose is to distinguish the crossover design from the randomized clinical trial, define important terms, illustrate a 2×2 crossover design, discuss potential confounding variables in the crossover design, describe the analysis and interpretation of crossover data, present sample size considerations, provide examples of the use of the crossover design in nutrition and dietetics, and discuss additional considerations when the independent variable has more than two levels., (Copyright © 2017 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This work focuses on mixed-methods research (MMR) and is the 11th in a series exploring the importance of research design, statistical analysis, and epidemiologic methods as applied to nutrition and dietetics research. MMR research is an investigative technique that applies both quantitative and qualitative data. The purpose of this article is to define MMR; describe its history and nature; provide reasons for its use; describe and explain the six different MMR designs; describe sample selection; and provide guidance in data collection, analysis, and inference. MMR concepts are applied and integrated with nutrition-related scenarios in real-world research contexts and summary recommendations are provided., (Copyright © 2017 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: This qualitative study, guided by a phenomenological approach, explored senior-level undergraduate, nutrition students' perceptions of how obesity and weight bias were addressed in the undergraduate curricula and how the curricula influenced their attitudes toward individuals with obesity., Methods: Twenty senior-level undergraduate, nutrition students from the University of Guelph participated in interviews. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis entailed open, axial, and selective coding., Results: Participants' sources of information about obesity in the curricula included nutrition courses, case studies, and non-nutrition courses. Regarding sources of information about weight bias in the curricula, they discussed nutrition courses, non-nutrition courses, and limited coverage of weight bias. Themes for curricular influence on attitudes toward people with obesity were increased knowledge of obesity, understanding the complexity of obesity, increased empathy toward individuals with obesity, and better ability to avoid stereotypes toward people with obesity., Conclusions: The perceptions among nutrition students varied regarding the amount and type of obesity and weight-bias information in the curricula, as well as the influence of the curricula on attitudes toward individuals with obesity, suggesting that obesity and weight bias warrant more coordinated coverage in the nutrition curricula.

Effective clinical nutrition practice depends on a sound knowledge of biomedical, societal and environmental science and the skills to diagnose, prevent and manage the health problems related to food patterns, energy equilibrium (mostly to do with physical activity) and nutrient metabolism. Its delivery needs to be accessible, equitable, affordable and sustainable. Ordinarily, this will require both local and widely distributed health services. In North-East (NE) Asia, these requisites are being met to an ever increasing extent. The roots of this progress are steeped in cultures which acknowledge the food-health connections and support education which pays regard to these connections. As elsewhere, however, the food and health systems, their safety and security are threatened by exploitative operatives. In China, a concerted effort was made in the mid-1980s to foster clinical nutrition in major hospitals throughout the country by programs directed at medical graduates, nursing and kitchen staff; dietetics has appeared much more recently. By contrast, Japan has had an extensive and well-trained dietetic workforce for much longer, alongside a vibrant basic nutrition science constituency in its universities and foodnutraceutical industry. South Korea and Taiwan have traversed a similar course to that in Japan. Now, all of these NE Asian economies have gathered rapid momentum in the publication of innovative approaches to public health and clinical nutrition which have the prospect of not only improving health outcomes, but also reducing the societal and financial burden of health care. This is particularly important in rapidly ageing societies, which they are. It is also a growing challenge where climate change threatens to engulf the lives and destinies of hundreds of millions of Asians on account of natural disasters, water and food insecurity.

Objetive: to determine food patterns and its association with the consumption of various foods with nutritional status of Chilean university students of Nutrition and Dietetics., Material and Methods: cross-sectional study, 634 students were evaluated Nutrition and Dietetics at the Universidad San Sebastián, of Santiago, Concepción, Valdivia and Puerto Montt. Each student a food survey was applied and an anthropometric assessment., Results: 68% of students eat breakfast daily, 36.1% and 37.1% consume the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables, 64.9% consume soft drinks frequently. A positive association was observed between an adecuated weight and the fact of eat vegetables (≥ 2 servings/day) OR = 0.662 (0.440 to 0.996), whole grains OR = 0.474 (0.224 to 1.002), low consumption of fried and sweet snack OR = 0.643 (0.406 to 1.019) and OR = 0.545 (0.360 to 0.825) respectively., Conclusions: students have an insufficient intake of healthy foods and a high intake of unhealthy foods, also shows that the intake of vegetables, whole grains, low consumption of fried foods and sweet snacks are associated with a normal nutritional status among students evaluated., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

This monograph is tenth in a series of articles focused on research design and analysis, and provides an overview of translational research concepts. Specifically, this article presents models and processes describing translational research, defines key terms, discusses methodological considerations for speeding the translation of nutrition research into practice, illustrates application of translational research concepts for nutrition practitioners and researchers, and provides examples of translational research resources and training opportunities. To promote the efficiency and translation of evidence-based nutrition guidelines into routine clinical-, community-, and policy-based practice, the dissemination and implementation phases of translational research are highlighted and illustrated in this monograph., (Copyright © 2015 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Food and nutrition services, along with the health care organizations they serve, are becoming increasingly complex. These complexities are driven by sometimes conflicting (if not polarizing) human, department, organization, and environment factors and will require that managers shift how they think about and approach productivity in the context of the greater good of the organization and, perhaps, even society. Traditional, single-factor approaches to productivity measurements, while still valuable in the context of departmental trend analysis, are of limited value when assessing departmental performance in the context of an organization's goals and values. As health care continues to change and new models of care are introduced, food and nutrition services managers will need to consider innovative approaches to improve productivity that are consistent with their individual health care organization's vision and mission. Use of process improvement tools such as Lean and Six Sigma as strategies for evaluating and improving food and nutrition services efficiency should be considered., (Copyright © 2015 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This is the ninth in a series of monographs on research design and analysis, and the third in a set of these monographs devoted to multivariate methods. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of data reduction methods, including principal components analysis, factor analysis, reduced rank regression, and cluster analysis. In the field of nutrition, data reduction methods can be used for three general purposes: for descriptive analysis in which large sets of variables are efficiently summarized, to create variables to be used in subsequent analysis and hypothesis testing, and in questionnaire development. The article describes the situations in which these data reduction methods can be most useful, briefly describes how the underlying statistical analyses are performed, and summarizes how the results of these data reduction methods should be interpreted., (Copyright © 2015 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that nutrition services provided by registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) and nutrition and dietetics technicians, registered (NDTRs), who work under RDN supervision, are essential components of comprehensive care for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN). Nutrition services should be provided throughout life in a manner that is interdisciplinary, family-centered, community based, and culturally competent. Individuals with IDD and CYSHCN have many risk factors requiring nutrition interventions, including growth alterations (eg, failure to thrive, obesity, or growth retardation), metabolic disorders, poor feeding skills, drug-nutrient interactions, and sometimes partial or total dependence on enteral or parenteral nutrition. Furthermore, these individuals are also more likely to develop comorbid conditions, such as obesity or endocrine disorders that require nutrition interventions. Poor nutrition-related health habits, limited access to services, and long-term use of multiple medications are considered health risk factors. Timely and cost-effective nutrition interventions can promote health maintenance and reduce risk and cost of comorbidities and complications. Public policy for individuals with IDD and CYSHCN has evolved, resulting in a transition from institutional facilities and programs to community and independent living. The expansion of public access to technology and health information on the Internet challenges RDNs and NDTRs to provide accurate scientific information to this rapidly growing and evolving population. RDNs and NDTRs with expertise in this area are best prepared to provide appropriate nutrition information to promote wellness and improve quality of life., (Copyright © 2015 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: This review examines knowledge and confidence of nutrition and dietetics professionals in nutritional genomics and evaluates the teaching strategies in this field within nutrition and dietetics university programmes and professional development courses internationally., Methods: A systematic search of 10 literature databases was conducted from January 2000 to December 2012 to identify original research. Any studies of either nutrition and/or dietetics students or dietitians/nutritionists investigating current levels of knowledge or confidence in nutritional genomics, or strategies to improve learning and/or confidence in this area, were eligible., Results: Eighteen articles (15 separate studies) met the inclusion criteria. Three articles were assessed as negative, eight as neutral and seven as positive according to the American Dietetics Association Quality Criteria Checklist. The overall ranking of evidence was low. Dietitians have low involvement, knowledge and confidence in nutritional genomics, and evidence for educational strategies is limited and methodologically weak., Conclusions: There is a need to develop training pathways and material to up-skill nutrition and/or dietetics students and nutrition and/or dietetics professionals in nutritional genomics through multidisciplinary collaboration with content area experts. There is a paucity of high quality evidence on optimum teaching strategies; however, methods promoting repetitive exposure to nutritional genomics material, problem-solving, collaborative and case-based learning are most promising for university and professional development programmes., (© 2013 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.)

Introduction: Changes in eating behaviour of university students are common and widely studied. Although the risk of developing eating disorders seems to be obvious among nutrition students, there is a lack of research in this field. This study aimed to: determine the risk of developing eating disorders in Dietetics and Nutrition (DN) students, through the comparison of eating behaviours, food habits, nutritional status, body composition and physical activity with those of other college students (from health and non-health degrees)., Methods: Cross-sectional and comparative study. The sample included 189 female students, aged 18 to 25 years (20.3 ± 2.0), from two Portuguese public universities. All students were measured (weight, height, % fat mass and waist circumference) and answered four validated questionnaires to assess eating behaviour, food patterns and physical activity., Results: There was a low risk of eating disorders development among these students (4.2%). No significant differences between students from DN, health and nonhealth degrees concerning eating behaviour, nutritional status and body composition were found, contrasting with differences in some food habits and physical activity (p < 0.05)., Conclusions: Despite the low risk of eating disorders among DN students, a large percentage of them had body weight concerns. DN students had the highest percentages of normal weight, no cardio-metabolic risk according to waist circumference and normal fat mass. DN students had the healthiest food habits and they also practiced moderate and intense physical activity in a high percentage, suggesting a possible positive influence of more knowledge on food and health. Results suggested the importance of more research in college students in order to identify the need for intervention and improve their lifestyle., (Copyright © AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2013. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To test the feasibility of a pan-European professional recognition system for public health nutrition., Design: A multistage consultation process was used to test the feasibility of a model system for public health nutritionist certification. A review of existing national-level systems for professional quality assurance was conducted via literature review and a web-based search, followed by direct inquiries among stakeholders. This information was used to construct a consultation document circulated to key stakeholders summarising the rationale of the proposed system and inviting feedback about the feasibility of the system. Two consultation workshops were also held. The qualitative data gathered through the consultation were collated and thematically analysed., Setting: Europe., Subjects: Public health nutrition workforce stakeholders across twenty-nine countries in the European Union., Results: One hundred and forty-five contacts/experts representing twenty-nine countries were contacted with responses received from a total of twenty-eight countries. The system proposed involved a certification system of professional peer review of an applicant's professional practice portfolio, utilising systems supported by information technology for document management and distribution similar to peer-review journals. Through the consultation process it was clear that there was overall agreement with the model proposed although some points of caution and concern were raised, including the need for a robust quality assurance framework that ensures transparency and is open to scrutiny., Conclusions: The consultation process suggested that the added value of such a system goes beyond workforce development to enhancing recognition of the important role of public health nutrition as a professional discipline in the European public health workforce.

Objective: To validate the general nutrition knowledge questionnaire developed by Parmenter and Wardle (1999) in a Turkish student sample., Design: The original questionnaire of Parmenter and Wardle (1999) was modified and translated into Turkish. The modified questionnaire was administered to second year undergraduate students. Some students completed the questionnaire twice for the measurement of test-retest reliability. Statistical analysis was performed on the responses to measure the internal reliability, test-retest reliability and construct validity., Setting: Students completed the questionnaire under supervision. The questionnaire was completed at the end of lectures. Retest was carried out two weeks after first administration of the test., Subjects: A total of 195 undergraduate students studying either nutrition and dietetics (n 90) or engineering (n 105) participated in the study. Of these, 125 students completed the questionnaire on two occasions., Results: Overall internal reliability (Cronbach's α = 0·89) and test-retest reliability (0·86) were high. Significant differences between the scores of the two groups of students indicated that the questionnaire had satisfactory construct validity., Conclusions: The modified version of the general nutrition knowledge questionnaire can be used as a tool to examine the nutrition knowledge of adults in Turkey. In the next stage of the study, some adjustments need to be made to the items that led to low reliability values so that these items will be more applicable to the eating habits and patterns of Turkish people.

Objective: To assess and develop a consensus among a European panel of public health nutrition workforce stakeholders (academics and employers) regarding core functions required for effective public health nutrition practice., Design: A modified Delphi study involving data from two rounds of questionnaires administered among a panel of public health nutrition workforce stakeholders., Setting: Europe., Subjects: A panel of fifty-three public health nutrition development stakeholders, including thirty-three academics and twenty employers, sampled from eighteen European countries., Results: Panellists rated 50 % (19/38) of the initially listed functions as core (i.e. without which public health capacity is limited), using a majority cut-off (>50 %). Out of the nineteen core functions seven were categorised under the heading Intervention management, emphasising high agreement on the importance of managing interventions in public health nutrition work. Only one of the identified core public health nutrition functions was rated differently between academics and employers, suggesting consistent identification of core functions between stakeholder groups., Conclusions: This consensus on core functions of the public health nutrition workforce in Europe can be used to promote a consistent understanding of the role and value of public health nutritionists as a discrete disciplinary sub-specialty of the public health workforce. The convergence of opinions of academics and employers, as well as comparison with previous international studies, indicates that there is a set of core public health nutrition functions transferable between countries that can be used as a benchmark to guide further development of the public health nutrition workforce in Europe.

The presence of nutrition as an independent matter in the educational programs of the Spanish Faculties of Medicine has been scanty until the end of the XXth century. We have witnessed an important development of the specific opportunities for the nutritional sciences in terms of quality and quantity in the XXIst century. Only one Ibero Latin American journal, Archivos Latinoamericanos de Nutrición (ALAN, ISSN 0004-0622), was present in the Journal Citation Reports, Science Edition among the 51 journals under the heading of Nutrition & Dietetics. Three more ibero latin American journals have been incorporated to JCR in the XXIst century, Nutrición Hospitalaria (Nutr Hosp, ISSN 0212-1611) in 2006, Revista de Nutricao (Rev Nutr, ISSN 1415-5273) and Revista Española de Nutrición Comunitaria (Rev Esp Nutr Comunit, ISSN 1135-3074) in 2007. The four journals are having a growing importance in other electronic platforms, rendering an important service to the scientific society, not only in their environment, but also in the rest of the world. Although English language dominates scientific communications, the critical mass of already existing journals in Spanish and the area of influence of this language is a good stimulus for continuing its utilization.

Introduction: Little research has been conducted into the attitudes and knowledge of dietitians-nutritionists (DN) or of experts in human nutrition and dietetics (EHND) regarding functional foods (FFs)., Objectives: To evaluate the knowledge of, interest in and predisposition towards FFs in Spanish DN and EHND, and how these professionals rate the potential benefits and risks associated with consuming FFs., Methods: 2100 DN and 122 EHND were asked to participate in a self-administered questionnaire. The results were expressed using percentages and the DN responses were compared with those of the EHND by means of chi-squared test. A significant difference was regarded as having been obtained if P < 0.05., Results: 204 DN and 112 EHND responded. After eliminating 45 surveys due to anomalies, 268 surveys were analyzed (170 from the DN, 8.1% participation; 98 from the EHND, 80.3% participation). No statistically significant differences were observed between the responses of the DN and the EHND except in: 1) the view that it was "dangerous" to consume certain FFs ≥ 4 times a day; and 2) the knowledge of the population regarding in which situations certain FFs should be consumed. Most of the professionals demonstrated good knowledge of FFs, consumed FFs, showed a positive attitude towards FFs and thought that the information provided to the consumer is insufficient., Discussion and Conclusions: FFs are generally accepted by nutritional professionals. However, further study is required into the discrepancies between DN and EHND regarding the view that it is "dangerous" to consume certain FFs and regarding their evaluation of whether the public know in which situations certain FFs should be consumed.

In recent years, qualitative research has become much more widely used in healthcare settings and undoubtedly has much to offer nutrition and dietetics. Its value is, however, still sometimes called into question and, for those unfamiliar with qualitative approaches, it can be difficult to grasp what distinguishes 'good' qualitative research from that which has been less rigorously conceived and conducted. This review, the fourth in the series, aims to highlight some of the key scientific debates around the quality criteria that can be applied to qualitative research, and offers some flexible guidelines that may be used both in producing and assessing qualitative health research, including studies in nutrition and dietetics. Other reviews in this series provide a model for embarking on a qualitative research project in nutrition and dietetics, an overview of the principal techniques of data collection, sampling and analysis and some practical advice relevant to nutrition and dietetics, along with glossaries of key terms., (© 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.)

Although much of the analysis conducted in qualitative research falls within the broad church of thematic analysis, the wide scope of qualitative enquiry presents the researcher with a number of choices regarding data analysis techniques. This review, the third in the series, provides an overview of a number of techniques and practical steps that can be taken to provide some structure and focus to the intellectual work of thematic analysis in nutrition and dietetics. Because appropriate research methods are crucial to ensure high-quality research, it also describes a process for choosing appropriate analytical methods that considers the extent to which they help answer the research question(s) and are compatible with the philosophical assumptions about ontology, epistemology and methodology that underpin the overall design of a study. Other reviews in this series provide a model for embarking on a qualitative research project in nutrition and dietetics, an overview of the principal techniques of data collection, sampling and quality assessment of this kind of research and some practical advice relevant to nutrition and dietetics, along with glossaries of key terms., (© 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.)

Background: Previous studies on nutrition counselling self-efficacy have assessed small groups of dietitians in focused practice areas or evaluated the effectiveness of skills training on only a few skills. This descriptive study developed a comprehensive scale to examine self-efficacy in a large, cross-sectional sample of practising dietitians when performing various counselling skills that promote dietary behaviour changes., Methods: A valid and reliable instrument was developed and administered through the Internet to survey dietitians in the USA from various areas of dietetics and with varying years of experience. Items included counselling self-efficacy, skill usage and counselling-related job characteristics. Of the 612 respondents, one group (n = 486) conducted counselling for more than 50% of their work week, and the other group (n = 126) for less than 50%. Factor analysis was used for scale development. Independent samples t-tests and chi-square tests were performed for group comparisons. Correlations and multiple regression analyses further assessed the relationships among variables., Results: The resultant unidimensional scale contained 25 items. Dietitians reported high self-efficacy scores and frequent skill usage. Those who counsel for more than 50% of their work week were more likely to work in outpatient settings and private practice, reported higher self-efficacy scores, and held longer and repeated sessions. Self-efficacy scores were positively correlated with counselling-related job characteristics. Years of counselling experience and skill usage significantly predicted self-efficacy scores., Conclusions: Dietitians perceive themselves to be highly self-efficacious in using counselling skills which may contribute positively to their professional practice. However, the relationship between counselling self-efficacy and actual performance warrants further investigation.

Celiac disease is becoming an increasingly recognized autoimmune enteropathy caused by a permanent intolerance to gluten. Once thought to be a rare disease of childhood characterized by diarrhea, celiac disease is actually a multisystemic disorder that occurs as a result of an immune response to ingested gluten in genetically predisposed individuals. Screening studies have revealed that celiac disease is most common in asymptomatic adults in the United States. Although considerable scientific progress has been made in understanding celiac disease and in preventing or curing its manifestations, a strict gluten-free diet is the only treatment for celiac disease to date. Early diagnosis and treatment, together with regular follow-up visits with a dietitian, are necessary to ensure nutritional adequacy and to prevent malnutrition while adhering to the gluten-free diet for life. The purpose of this review is to provide clinicians with current updated information about celiac disease, its diverse clinical presentation and increased prevalence, the complex pathophysiology and strong genetic predisposition to celiac disease, and its diagnosis. This review focuses in detail on the gluten-free diet and the importance of intense expert dietary counseling for all patients with celiac disease. Recent advances in the gluten-free diet include food allergen labeling as well as the US Food and Drug Administration's proposed definition of the food-labeling term gluten-free. The gluten-free diet is complex and patients need comprehensive nutrition education from a skilled dietitian.