The demand for mental health education for nutrition professionals, as enhanced by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been a long standing gap in traditional dietetics training. Countless communities and populations are in need of support providers that offer culturally appropriate and intersectional nutrition support; including mental health screening/awareness.
Traditional weight-centric healthcare education has not always improved health outcomes, and students need ways to approach these topics with a lens that is inclusive of body size, to better address behavior change and respectful of food and body autonomy. Higher education is where we can offer growth and support in this area.
Students who receive instruction early in their careers about weight neutral topics have diversified thinking, improved awareness, and changed attitudes about the treatment of individuals as it relates to nutrition, mental health and overall well being. Exposure to concepts that are weight neutral and engage with mental health topics help students as both individuals and future professionals, to grapple with eating and body image concerns preparing for future success!