The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the launch of a $2.1 million NIH initiative that incentivizes the integration of nutrition into medical and nursing school education.
The challenge aims to address a crisis that the administration alleges is impeding the American health care system, public health, and national security, according to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
“Nutrition will no longer sit at the margins of medical education,” Kennedy said. “It will shape what students learn, what physicians master, what licensing boards assess, and ultimately how patients receive care.”
As part of the reforms involving the National Board of Medical Examiners and the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners, nutrition science will now comprise approximately 15 percent of the United States Medical Licensing Examination test content.
Kennedy gave the remarks at a press conference, which took place at HHS headquarters in Washington D.C.
“We cannot solve the chronic disease burden without addressing nutrition,” he said. “Nutrition is returning to the center of American medicine.”
Kennedy was flanked by CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, University of Tennessee Health Science Center Vice Chancellor for Research Dr. Jessica Snowden, and Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent.
The $2.1 million NIH initiative is the first step of a larger, long-term $5 million funding pool that’s dedicated to reforming nutrition research and education infrastructure.
An estimated 90 percent of all health care spending is on treating chronic diseases linked to food, and 48 cents out of every federal tax dollar paid by Americans is for health care, according to Kennedy. More than 70 percent of adults are overweight or obese, and 38 percent of teenagers have diabetes or pre-diabetes.
As a result, some 77 percent of American children cannot qualify for military service.
“This is not only a public health challenge, it's a national security issue,” he said. “That's something that should get everybody's attention.”
A total of 73 medical schools nationwide have so far voluntarily joined a Nutrition Education Pledge that will start in the fall.
Under the pledge, participating institutions will provide a minimum of 40 hours of nutrition education to the physicians they train.
Kennedy noted that the rollout is bipartisan despite the political differences of some of the leaders, testers, and medical schools who voluntarily signed the pledge.
“I want to make clear that all of these organizations came forward voluntarily,” he added. “There was no coercion or pressure from my agency. We acted as a catalyst here. We did something that everybody already wanted to do.”