Search

Introduction Nutrition counseling is important for veterans undergoing gastric bypass surgery. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between the number of nutrition visits a patient attended and change in body mass index (BMI) after gastric bypass surgery for the veteran population. Methods A retrospective study examined veterans (N = 79) who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery from June 2004 through July 2010. Spearman’s correlation and multivariate regression analysis were used to analyze data. Results A significant correlation was found between the number of postoperative nutrition visits and the change in postsurgery BMI at 2 years (Spearman’s ρ = 0.21; P = .017). After adjusting for age, sex, and race, the association between postsurgery nutrition visits and BMI change persisted (β = 0.255; 95% confidence interval, 0.015–0.581; P = .039). Conclusion Veterans with more nutrition visits following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery experienced greater declines in BMI. This finding underscores the importance of the dietitian on the bariatric surgery team.

Diet plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of major chronic diseases common in populations of US veterans. The role of nutrition-focused wellness coaching in improving dietary behavior and/or reducing weight in overweight and obese US veterans is not known. At the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, US veterans aged 25 to 80 years were randomized to receive nutrition coaching on eating behaviors at baseline only (control group, n=22) or an additional eight times over the course of 6 months (intervention group, n=28) in 2010-2011. Multiple coaching contacts decreased intake of energy, fat, and carbohydrate by 31% (P≤0.001) as evaluated by the 2005 Block food frequency questionnaire, which is composed of 111 food items. A weight loss of 5% from baseline (92.8 to 88.2 kg; P