Millions of Americans are affected by nutrient insecurity and endure from diet-related illnesses, including cardiovascular illness and Type 2 diabetes. While galore illness factors are genetic, others are much controllable, particularly nutrition—the absorption of the increasing “food is medicine” field. Dr. Fang Fang Zhang, subordinate prof and interim seat of the Division of Nutrition Epidemiology and Data Science astatine Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, discusses the school’s objectives and what researchers similar her are doing to get it done.
Can you stock immoderate of the objectives of the Friedman School’s enactment tied to food, nutrition and health?
One precedence is to construe subject into action: bringing cutting-edge, actionable argumentation evidence, strategies, and interventions to policymakers and different applicable stakeholders to assistance code the nutrition crisis. Recently, immoderate of our module led the enactment of an independent, bipartisan task unit that made recommendations to pass the 2nd White House Conference connected Hunger, Nutrition, and Health held successful September. The past specified league was successful 1969, chaired by Jean Mayer, laminitis of the Friedman School. It was a landmark lawsuit that had important and lasting impacts connected reducing hunger successful the United States. The schoolhouse volition proceed to enactment the nationalist strategies released during this year’s conference: improving nutrition, reducing diet-related illnesses, and addressing equity done excellence successful research, acquisition and advocacy.
Your probe focuses connected nutrition's narration to crab and outcomes. What are you astir optimistic about?
Various factors lend to the hazard of cancer. These see big factors, specified arsenic our property and genes; biology factors, specified arsenic biology pollution, radiation and infection; and fare and manner factors. Some of these hazard factors are modifiable and truthful perchance preventable. We person estimated that astir 5% of the caller crab cases each twelvemonth successful the U.S. are attributable to mediocre diet, including a debased depletion of full grains, dairy foods, vegetables and fruits, and a precocious depletion of processed and reddish meats and sugar-sweetened beverages. This means that much than 80,000 caller crab cases each twelvemonth successful our state are preventable.
You’re besides connected a squad investigating the benefits of nutrient medicine programs. Can you sermon however they work?
Produce prescriptions impact clinicians providing guidance and assistance for patients to entree steadfast nutrient for illness prevention and management. Supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and Kaiser Permanente, we person conscionable completed an valuation of 9 nutrient medicine programs involving much than 1,800 children and 2,000 adults who were astatine hazard for mediocre cardiometabolic health. In these programs, patients were referred by healthcare providers to person vouchers oregon cards loaded with monetary incentives. Patients tin redeem the vouchers oregon usage the paper to acquisition fruits and vegetables astatine section market stores oregon farmers markets. Significant increases successful effect and rootlike intake and reductions successful household nutrient insecurity were observed aft participation. Additionally, important improvements successful cardiometabolic wellness were noted among big participants, specified arsenic reductions successful hemoglobin A1c and systolic and diastolic humor pressure.
How tin healthcare leaders assistance beforehand the “food is medicine” question successful their organizations?
Hospitals tin integrate screening for nutrient and nutrition insecurity into the physics wellness records and see referrals for eligible patients to person “food is medicine” services arsenic portion of the objective attraction routine. Leaders tin besides instrumentality vantage of existing opportunities to wage for services specified arsenic nutrient prescriptions and medically tailored meals wrong national healthcare programs. For example, authorities Medicaid agencies tin usage authorities specified arsenic Section 1115 Demonstration Waivers to trial the interaction of providing sum for specified programs oregon supply authorization for Medicaid managed attraction plans to screen “food is medicine” programs.
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