Nutrition Counselling

According to Healthy People 2020, heart disease is considered the top cause of death in the US. Heart disease is combined with stroke, which is the fifth leading cause of death, and together with other cardiovascular diseases, the two are among the most costly and widespread health problems that face the nation today, accounting for about $320 billion in expenditures in healthcare and other associated expenses yearly (Healthy People 2020). The good thing about cardiovascular diseases is that they can be prevented. The leading controllable risk factors for heart disease and stroke include diabetes, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, obesity and overweight, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and cigarette smoking. Therefore, patient education should majorly involve nutrition and physical activity to help prevent heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases.

To educate a patient on nutrition and its role in promoting health to prevent or lessen the risk of heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases, it will be important to first identify their dietary habits as well as attitudes and offer suitable counseling. After identifying their habits, it will be important to offer professional counsel and reference in regard to their diet. Research shows that physicians are the most esteemed source of lifestyle modification information, and they possess contact with up to 70 percent of the US adult population every year, yet only 21 percent of patients claim to have received effective communication on nutrition and disease (Aggarwal et al., 2018). This happens because most of these physicians lack sufficient nutrition resources and training. This shows the need for a team of professionals composed of nutritionists, dieticians, and the physician who recommends the patient to the first two to make dietary recommendations for patients to prevent the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Medline Plus (2020) recommends a healthy diet that is composed of whole grains, vegetables, and fresh fruits and limiting the intake of added sugars and food high in sodium and saturated fats.

References

Aggarwal, M., Devries, S., Freeman, A. M., Ostfeld, R., Gaggin, H., Taub, P.,& Conti, R. C. (2018). The deficit of nutrition education of physicians. The American Journal of Medicine, 131(4), 339-345.

Heathy People 2020. (2020). Heart Disease and Stroke. Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/heart-disease-and-stroke

MedLine Plus. (2020). How to Prevent Heart Disease. Retrieved from https://medlineplus.gov/howtopreventheartdisease.html

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

Question