Healthy diet in primary care: Views of general practitioners and nurses from Europe

Rosa Piñeiro, Carlos Brotons, Mateja Bulc, Ramon Ciurana, Ton Drenthen, Domenique Durrer, Maciek Godycki-Cwirko, Süleyman Görpelioglu, Pilar Kloppe, Christos Lionis, Maxime Mancini, Carlos Martins, Artur Mierzecki, Ingrid Pichler, Liivia Pullerits, Mario R. Sammut, Donatella Sghedoni, Mary Sheehan, Eleftherios A. Thireos, Revaz TataradzeEva Jurgova, Elena V. Frolova, Sirkka Keinanen-Kiukkanniemi, Jasna Vucak, Cecilia Björkelund, Hava Tabenkin, Eleizzer Kitai, Ruta Radzeviciene, Mehmet Ungan, Frans Govaerts, Leo Pas, André Franck, Valia Markou, Antonia Sanchez, Maria Ruiz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Most of the national colleges of general practitioners (GPs) do not have their own dietary/nutritional tools, and GPs and nurses do not have the time, knowledge, or skills to advise their patients about desirable dietary practices. Objective: To assess the usefulness of a simple and practical guide on healthy diet to be used by European GPs and nurses. Design: A postal survey was mailed to 171 GPs and nurses from 12 European countries to obtain information about the usefulness of a guide on healthy diet developed by EUROPREV. Results: The perception of health professionals is that the main source of information on healthy diet for the population was the media. In all, 95% of GPs and nurses reported that the guide was useful; 93, 95, and 82% reported that the concepts were concise, easy to understand, and realistic, respectively. Also, 77% reported that the type of counselling recommended was feasible and could be applied, 94% reported that the implementation measures proposed could be effective and 88% reported that the Traditional Mediterranean Diet Pyramid is useful, but some concerns about the content were mentioned. Conclusions: GPs and nurses from Europe think that a practical guide on healthy diet developed by EUROPREV could be used to advise patients in primary care, although the Traditional Mediterranean Diet Pyramid should be modified.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)S77-S80
JournalEuropean Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Volume59
Issue numberSUPPL. 1
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2005
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank all the general practitioners and nurses for their time spent in reading the guide on healthy diet and answering the questionnaire. We also thank the support of Spanish Program of Prevention and Health Promotion of the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine, and the support of the Public Health Division of the Catalan Department of Health. There are no conflicts of interest.

Funding

We thank all the general practitioners and nurses for their time spent in reading the guide on healthy diet and answering the questionnaire. We also thank the support of Spanish Program of Prevention and Health Promotion of the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine, and the support of the Public Health Division of the Catalan Department of Health. There are no conflicts of interest.

FundersFunder number
Catalan Department of Health
Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine

    Keywords

    • Europe
    • General practitioners
    • Healthy diet
    • Nurses
    • Primary care

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