In many countries, doctors are recommended to provide nutrition care to patients to improve the dietary behaviours of individuals and populations. Here, we present a systematic review that aims to critically synthesise literature on nutrition education provided to medical students. In this systematic review, a literature search was done between May 1 and July 1, 2018, for articles on medical students' nutrition knowledge, skills, and confidence to counsel patients, from Nov 1, 2012, to Dec 31, 2018. Search terms related to medical students included "nutrition in medical education", "medical nutrition education", and "undergraduate medical nutrition education". Search terms for topic of interest included "nutrition", "knowledge", "skills", "nutrition counselling", "confidence", "nutrition care", or "nutrition education". Included studies examined any aspect of recently graduated (ie, ≤4 years) or current medical students' nutrition knowledge, attitudes, skills, or confidence (or all three) in nutrition or nutrition counselling; evaluated nutrition curriculum initiatives for medical students; or assessed recently graduated or current medical students' perceptions of nutrition education. Quality assessment appraisal of the studies was done using a Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Curriculum initiatives were also appraised. 66 studies were identified by the search and 24 were eligible for full-text analysis. 16 quantitative studies, three qualitative studies, and five curriculum initiatives from the USA (n=11), Europe (n=4), the Middle East (n=1), Africa (n=1), and Australasia (n=7) met the inclusion criteria. Our analysis of these studies showed that nutrition is insufficiently incorporated into medical education, regardless of country, setting, or year of medical education. Deficits in nutrition education affect students' knowledge, skills, and confidence to implement nutrition care into patient care. A modest positive effect was reported from curriculum initiatives. Despite the centrality of nutrition to healthy lifestyle, medical students are not supported to provide high-quality, effective nutrition care. Medical education can be enhanced by institutional commitment to make nutrition education compulsory in medical training, establishment of nutrition competencies to provide a benchmark for nutrition knowledge and skills to be included in curricula, and supported by funding for innovative curriculum initiatives. These initiatives will improve nutrition in medical training to support future doctors for the 21st century. Sir John Logan Campbell Medical Fellowship 2017, and an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Fellowship.

Objective: The aim of the present systematic review was to investigate the evidence on the association between food literacy and adolescents’ dietary intake.Design: The review included searches of six databases with no restriction on the year of publication or language.Setting: The studies eligible for review were from five countries/regions: USA (n 6), Europe (n 4), Australia (n 1), Middle East (n 1) and South Africa (n 1).Subjects: Adolescents aged 10 to 19 years.Results: Thirteen studies were eligible for inclusion. None of the studies investigated all aspects of food literacy. Eight studies reported a positive association between food literacy and adolescents’ dietary intake. For example, adolescents with greater food knowledge and frequent food preparation behaviours were shown to have healthier dietary practices. Three studies found a mixed association of food literacy and adolescents’ dietary intake. For example, adolescents who frequently helped to prepare dinner had healthier dietary intake, but food shopping tasks were associated with less healthy food choices. Two studies found no association between measures of food literacy and adolescents’ dietary intake.Conclusions: Food literacy may play a role in shaping adolescents’ dietary intake. More rigorous research methods are required to effectively assess the causality between food literacy and adolescents’ dietary intake in order to confirm the extent of the relationship. Evidence recommends public health practitioners and policy makers consider new public health strategies that focus on increasing understanding of food literacy in adolescence.

Facebook is a popular platform that may facilitate learning activities at university. In this study, students' perceptions of using 'Facebook pages' within individual university subject offerings were evaluated. Individual 'Facebook pages' were developed for four university courses and used to provide information relevant to the courses and allow opportunities for student interaction. An initial questionnaire administered in the first lecture of semester indicated that nearly all students (n=161, 93.1%) possessed an activeFacebook account. Most students (n=135, 78.0%) anticipated that a Facebook page would facilitate their learning, by increased interaction with students and instructors, and notifications for course information. A second questionnaire was completed in the final lecture of semester indicating that 81.9% of students engaged with the course Facebook page at some stage. However, perceptions of the effectiveness of the page as a learning tool were variable, with only 51% of students stating that it was effective. Despite this, the majority of students (n=110, 76.4%) recommended using Facebook in future courses. This preliminary evaluation of Facebook as a learning aid suggests that it has the potential to promote collaborative and cooperative learning, but further research is required, specifically to understand if and how it can enhance learning outcomes.

A dietetic consultation is a structured process aimed at supporting individual patients to modify their dietary behaviors to improve health outcomes. The body of evidence on the effectiveness of nutrition care provided by dietitians in primary health care settings has not previously been synthesized. This information is important to inform the role of dietitians in primary health care service delivery. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the evidence of the effectiveness of individual consultations provided exclusively by dietitians in primary care to support adult patients to modify dietary intake and improve health outcomes. ProQuest Family Health, Scopus, PubMed Central, Medline, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Cochrane databases were searched for English language systematic reviews or randomized controlled trials published before October 2016. The key terms used identified the provision of nutrition care exclusively by a dietitian in a primary health care setting aimed at supporting adult patients to modify dietary behaviors and/or improve biomarkers of health. Interventions delivered to patients aged younger than 18 years, in hospital, via telephone only, in a group or lecture setting, or by a multidisciplinary team were excluded. The methodologic quality of each study was appraised using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool and the body of evidence was assessed using the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Evidence Analysis Manual. Outcomes included the effectiveness of dietetic interventions in terms of anthropometry, clinical indicators, and dietary intake. A statistically significant between-group difference was used to indicate intervention effectiveness (P<0.05). Twenty-six randomized controlled studies met eligibility criteria, representing 5,500 adults receiving dietetic consultations in a primary care setting. Eighteen of 26 included studies showed statistically significant differences in dietary, anthropometric, or clinical indicators between intervention and comparator groups. When focusing specifically on each study's stated aim, significant improvements favoring the intervention compared with control were found for the following management areas: glycemic control (four out of four studies), dietary change (four out of four studies), anthropometry (four out of seven studies), cholesterol (two out of eight studies), triglycerides (one out of five), and blood pressure (zero out of three) studies. Dietetic consultations for adults in primary care settings appear to be effective for improvement in diet quality, diabetes outcomes (including blood glucose and glycated haemoglobin values), and weight loss outcomes (eg, changes in weight and waist circumference) and to limit gestational weight gain (Grade II: Fair evidence). Research evaluated in this review does not provide consistent support for the effectiveness of direct dietetic counseling alone in achieving outcomes relating to plasma lipid levels and blood pressure (Grade III: Limited evidence). Therefore, to more effectively control these cardiovascular disease risk factors, future research might explore novel nutrition counseling approaches as well as dietitians functioning as part of multidisciplinary teams.