Nutrition And Dietetics

Dietitians are the only qualified health professionals that assess, diagnose and treat dietary and nutritional problems at an individual and wider public-health level. They work with both healthy and sick people. Uniquely, dietitians use the most up-to-date public health and scientific research on food, health and disease which they translate into practical guidance to enable people to make appropriate lifestyle and food choices (British Dietetic Association, 2013)

Dietitians interpret current evidence and translate this into practical advice for patients requiring specialist nutrition intervention. We train, advise and develop resources for use by other healthcare professionals eg. providing training in the use of screening tools to identify risk of malnutrition.
Dietitians are involved in health promotion events such as Dietitians’ week, Nutrition & Hydration week and events such as World Kidney day and Diabetes week. We are represented on NHS Dumfries & Galloway’s Nutrition & Hydration Strategic Group responsible for implementing the Healthcare Improvement Scotland Food, Fluid and Nutritional Care Standards.