At the end of the 27th year for Topics in Clinical Nutrition, with a great deal of gratitude, I extend my appreciations to our authors, reviewers, LWW staff, and editors. They have consistently produced a practice-based journal that entices, questions, and informs our readers. Issue 27.4 contains a featured article, a case example, clinical question reviews, and a pilot project.
Hunter et al conducted a study of leadership in dietetics using qualitative methodology. Twenty-five semistructured telephone interviews were conducted with leaders in the dietetics profession. From these interviews, the authors devised a grounded theory model showing the value of mentors in developing leaders and summed up their findings by asserting that early mentoring seems to be most helpful for career development. Repeatedly, the participants had identified "mentoring as the most important factor in becoming leaders."
Gibbs and Chapman-Novakofski have addressed the important area of health literacy for dietitians and nutritionists. Nutrition literacy as part of health literacy should reduce diet misconceptions and improve health outcomes. They stressed the importance of nutrition literacy and research data on its effectiveness to help people acquire nutrition skills and knowledge.
Sum and Brody reviewed the potential link between thiamine supplementation and treating Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome in patients with alcoholism. More evidence is needed to determine the best thiamine supplementation regimen for patients with Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Guidelines have been proposed from international associations, but observational studies should be conducted in clinical settings.
Pharmacotherapy has been a treatment option for overweight and obese adults but has had mixed results over the years. Research studies on the efficacy of using orlistat (60 mg 3 times daily) with obese adults was examined by Smith and her colleagues; they found a need for more long-term studies to examine the efficacy and adverse effects of orlistat. An interesting case example also has been reported.
A pilot project was initiated to examine parental/caregiver awareness of the weight status of their children in 5 rural South Dakota schools participating in Kid Quest. The Parental Awareness Questionnaire was piloted as a supplement to the Kid Quest Assessment Tools for 78 students. When comparing the responses with the actual anthropometric measurements of weight status of the children, McCann et al found that the parents mainly were not aware or concerned with their child's weight status.
An important clinical question was posed and addressed by Edmunds and her colleagues regarding glutamine supplementation for critically ill patients. The studies examined did not provide clear and convincing evidence. Until large, well-designed studies can be conducted, the authors have provided a guideline for using supplemental glutamine with burn and trauma patients.
The editorial board has worked hard to encourage high-quality submissions and expresses its gratitude to authors for a successful year of practice-based manuscripts and an increasing number of clinical review articles.
Thank you for another successful year!
-Judith A. Gilbride, PhD, RD, FADA
Editor