Traqade
Sean wants to lose weight, while his sister, Marie, has low iron levels; Sean’s dad is diabetic while his mom needs help with her weak bones.
Sean needs a calorie controlled diet plan, Marie would benefit from including iron rich foods. Diabetic diet for Sean’s dad needs careful planning to help him manage his sugar levels, while extra thought is needed to include calcium and Vitamin D in mom’s every day foods. Not to mention, each of them have their own food preferences and intolerance. If each of them were to get an individual diet plan to meet their health goals, at least four different meals would have to be cooked every day!
The need of the hour, therefore, is a family dietician, who can tie up the family’s individual health and nutrition goals with a comprehensive nutrition plan. The goal of a family dietician would be to effectively assess the individual health and nutrition status, and the family as a whole, assess the readiness of change within each family member, provide motivation for change as needed, and effectively plan and implement a family nutrition program.
The family dietician dons many hats as listed below:
- Is a trusted source of nutrition and health related information.
- Advise and inspire to try out new recipes.
- Provide handouts for family meal plans and dietary guidelines.
- Management of medical conditions in the family members that could range from kidney stones, B 12 deficiency, diabetes, or lactose intolerance.
- Fine tuning each diet plan.
- Ensure each meal meets the requirements of all health and nutrition needs of the family members, so multiple dishes or foods need not be included every time.
- Optimizing nutrition in the given framework of cuisine preference, allergies, dislikes and food habits of each family member.
- Behavioral counseling for lifestyle changes for the family as a whole.
- Setting up a support system within the family, so each can support the other’s health goals.
Support through the stages of change
The family dietitian plays a crucial role starting from helping the family recognize a problem, through contemplating on the modes of action to actual implementation. The stages of change include the pre-contemplation stage, the contemplation stage where the readiness to recognize the problem is indicated, the preparation stage where the readiness to initiate change happens, the action stage, and, finally, the maintenance stage:
Pre-contemplation – I don’t think my family’s health is an issue.
Contemplation – I’m starting to think my family’s health is an issue.
Preparation – I am concerned about my family’s health and would like help addressing it.
Action – My family’s health is a problem, and I am doing my best to address it by working out daily.
Maintenance – I have addressed my family’s health and have achieved positive results. Currently working on reaching the given targets in health.
The problem is real and it’s happening to you and your family. The hour to get professional help is now. Fitness and wellness online portals register expert dieticians and nutritionists to help you reach them and their services more conveniently. Find yours today!
I am totally agree with posted information, the good family dietician is must to ensure the all members of family stay healthy and fit. The dietician will guide what to eat and how, which foods and nutritions are important for human body. I am also following and getting a consultation from one of dietician who is helping me to maintain my body healthy. This information will much more helpful for those who are looking to weight loss or weight gain.