Importance of Nutrition Visits After Gastric Bypass Surgery for American Veterans, San Francisco, 2004–2010

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.