This issue of Topics in Clinical Nutrition highlights several areas of interest to clinical dietitians and other health care providers. The issue begins with a qualitative study conducted by Burgess et al at Brigham Young University. In this study, they describe the food and nutrient intake analysis process of hospitalized pediatric patients in the United States using semistructured interviews with pediatric registered dietitians. They identified several themes and illustrated that while various methods of collecting, communicating, and analyzing data exist, optimal methods are unclear. Examples of successful processes are discussed and the opportunity for quality improvement is highlighted.
Ermamilia et al at Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia conducted a hospital-based case-control study of 70 pregnant women looking at the relationship of prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG) with preeclampsia. Their results reveal that pregnant women with a high prepregnancy BMI and excessive GWG had increased risk of preeclampsia in this population. One major limitation of this study centers around reliance on self-reported weights due to the lack of routine health checks for all pregnant women.
O'Dwyer presents a second of a 2-part overview of dietary supplements. This review highlights the quality and efficacy of dietary supplements through a discussion of considerations of patient physiology, genetics, and lifestyle in choosing supplements. Resources related to supplement evaluation are also discussed.
Minieri et al at the University of Pisa and University of Florence in Italy completed a review of effects of dairy products and milk and their constituents on human health. Specifically, they looked at the relationship of these foods to obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and osteoporosis. Although there are a large number of studies, several are conflicting. More research is needed to further clarify these relationships.
The remaining studies focus on both dietetics education and nutrition education of medical students. Hand, Sears, and Harris of Case Western Reserve University describe the research motivation, involvement, and confidence of graduates of a combined dietetic internship/master's degree program with a research emphasis. Thirty-five participants completed a cross-sectional online survey with 3 validated tools. Results revealed that approximately half identified current or recent research involvement, with the strongest predictor of research involvement related to whether research was a part of their job description. A primary barrier was identified as having other roles taking priority and a primary motivator was skill development. Further research in this area may provide additional information on what influences dietitians to pursue, or not pursue, research endeavors.
Allsopp and Buys of Purdue University and Mississippi State University discuss the integration of community-engaged learning activities in a didactic program in dietetics undergraduate community nutrition course. They highlight that this framework enhanced student learning as well as served an at-risk community in the Mississippi Delta.
Finally, Vanderpool et al at Clemson University and the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville conducted a pilot study of 5 first-year medical students who participated in a culinary medicine course. Assessment of the students' cooking knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, confidence, and self-efficacy pre- and posttraining took place and significant improvements were identified in all measures. These results indicate that incorporating a culinary medicine course may improve the nutrition education of medical students.
Thank you to all of our Topics in Clinical Nutrition reviewers. This year our reviewers, many of whom are clinicians and educators, contributed to the journal despite juggling an increased workload related to COVID-19 and/or the necessity of pivoting to online learning. We appreciate your hard work and contributions to the Journal, especially in the face of such challenges.
-Kelly Kane, MS, RD, CNSC
Editor