Nourishing the brain: Supporting dietetic research opens doors for the entire profession
“We’re drowning in information and starving for knowledge.”
Academic librarian and author Rutherford D. Rogers, who penned the quote above, knows that quantity doesn’t replace quality when it comes to information’s impact upon our lives. We’re fortunate to have access to an unprecedented level of data through newspapers, books, magazines, television, radio and the Internet however, our ability to obtain information in abundance has its downside, too. As a dietetics professional, you know firsthand the confusion, alarm and feelings of helplessness experienced by consumers and other healthcare professionals who are besieged by conflicting voices in food and nutrition. While you’re working hard to educate your clients and patients on the importance of a balanced and varied diet, various widely publicized stories urge audiences to eat all the fat they want; avoid carbohydrates; target their eating to their blood types; stay away from dairy products; balance their diets precisely among fats, carbohydrates and protein; or rely almost exclusively on a single food like cabbage or grapefruit!
All nutrition information isn’t created equal and it’s hard for the public to sift through the ocean of data to find the pearls. That’s where ADA comes in. Our most recent nutrition trends survey, Nutrition and You: Trends 2002, showed that 90% of respondents were familiar with RDs and virtually the same number (86%) viewed registered dietitians as highly credible sources of information on the national epidemic of obesity. Extensive news media coverage — more than 6.5 billion media impressions in the last year alone, in print and broadcast outlets — demonstrates our effectiveness in getting our messages to consumers.
Not only sharing, but creating knowledge
ADA members should be proud of our respected position in the minds of clients and consumers, and aware that with this respect comes responsibility. As health professionals, dietetics professionals share a commitment to provide for the health and welfare of society. To honor this obligation, we must monitor, encourage, support and, most importantly, actively participate and have ownership of scholarly scientific and clinical investigations in the art and science of nutrition and dietetics. Just as the public relies on dietetics professionals for the answers, they also look to us to ask the right questions. The only way to secure our status as a profession is to serve as the leading contributors to the body of knowledge in our field. Every day, through research, ADA members seek answers and solutions.
Why is member-conducted research key to the advancement of our profession? Certainly it strengthens and advances the body of food and nutrition knowledge available to dietitians as practitioners and enhances their ability to continue providing the most reliable, up-to-date information to their patients, clients, and consumers. But research also raises our public professional profile by defining the dietitian as the major originator of sound data on nutritional issues — not just as the conveyors of information, but as the individuals who actively seek to push wider the parameters of knowledge.
The people who conduct good research on a specific issue are the same individuals the public seeks when it’s looking for dependable guidance in that area. Research more fully establishes ADA members as the creators of knowledge. That benefits our entire profession by making each member a more sought-after source of information — whether it’s the media seeking an expert for a story, a health-care employer seeking a nutrition consultant, or a mother wanting to know which foods are allowed for specific allergies.
Investing in our own profession
Many ADA members already are conducting a wide range of research projects with government, private foundations, and industry support. But, with government research funding at the mercy of changing administrations and private-business support subject to increasing competition, the time has come for the Association to invest more fully in our own profession.
ADAF is establishing a research fund that will help keep registered dietitians at the forefront of clinical application and identify them as the unbiased source of scientific information regarding food and nutrition. To date, more than $1.5 million has been raised through the support of our members who have joined the 21st Century Club ($2100 pledge), Evergreen Society ($4200 pledge) and have given at levels up to $100,000. However, our goals to grow this endowment remain lofty.
To align and maximize the effectiveness of ADA and ADAF initiatives, the Foundation has a wish list of projects that support top issues identified by ADA and which will not be funded by other sources.
The top issue on which our resources are currently focused, childhood obesity, is of great concern to our members and the public. We’ve made a commitment to the “Healthy Weight for Children” initiative and member-conducted research in this area is a priority for Foundation funding. Support from ADA members to the research endowment makes possible much-needed research in this and other areas, as well as in outcomes research that demonstrates the effectiveness of food and nutrition services.
In addition, there is a critical need to support postdoctoral nutrition research which can have a major impact on university faculty who want to do research, but are unsuccessful in competing for large federally funded grants and unable to find funding for applied dietetics-related research. This endowment can serve as the pilot study for many larger federally funded grants, and create more seasoned researchers. It has the ability to fund dietetics faculty at universities, who rarely have funding to do small credible research studies and position them as prestigious researchers. Making a $50,000 to $60,000 postdoctoral nutrition research fellowship available annually could help move RDs and the profession to the forefront in providing the most up-to-date and accurate food and nutrition information.
Furthermore, a research fund created by dietitians for dietitians will be a powerful tool for maintaining and advancing our professional status within the health-care community. It will give us an important edge and add definition to our role in protecting and promoting the health and well-being of society. Additional advantages will come to members who seek funding to understand issues that impact the way we as dietitians provide care and service.
You can make this happen. Call the ADA Foundation office at 800/877-1600. Ask for Mary Beth Whalen, VP and Executive Director at extension 4820 or Susie Burns, Director of Major Gifts, extension 4752. We urge you to join us as we combat “knowledge starvation” — and move our profession forward as we improve the nutritional health of the public.
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