Experts Say Nutrition Education Is ‘Limited or Completely Absent’ in Medical Schools

A panel of medical experts has stated that nutrition education is largely “limited or completely absent from the requirements for most medical specialties in graduate medical education.” The authors make a call for change to include dietary guidance and education. The authors add, “Food and nutrition insecurity is strongly correlated with risk of chronic disease and is a manifestation of health inequities.”

Now, a new CDC report says 15.5 million adults have ADHD, of which some studies have shown the symptoms to lessen through dietary intervention. 3.5 million children are currently taking medication to treat ADHD, which equates to 69% of all children who have been diagnosed with the condition. 

Studies have shown that artificial food coloring (AFC) is linked with higher levels of hyperactive behavior. Three-year-old children in a study who were given a combination of AFC and sodium benzoate showed higher levels of hyperactive behavior than the placebo group. Removal of AFC and sodium benzoate reduced the symptoms for the children in the study.

On Wednesday, The HighWire live-streamed a protest outside of Kellogg’s in Battle Creek, MI. The protestors were asking the breakfast cereal company to remove AFCs from their cereals and breakfast bars. The event was organized by Jason Karp, a Kellogg’s shareholder and the CEO of HumanCo, a company that is described as a “mission-driven company that builds brands committed to making products better in every dimension.”

A petition drive was organized by Vani Hari, the Food Babe, who recently participated in the congressional hearing with Senator Ron Johnson and appeared on The HighWire.

Four hundred thousand signatures were collected to ask the company to remove AFCs from its products. Kellogg’s originally pledged in 2015 to remove food dyes from all products by 2018, but there are still several popular products that contain AFCs. Kellogg’s responded by saying 85% of its products contain no AFCs, and they are actively creating new cereals that don’t contain food dyes. The company also said that all ingredients are “compliant with all applicable relevant laws and regulations.”

Many of the most common food dyes approved for use in American foods are petroleum-based, including four dyes that are ingredients in Kellogg’s Froot Loops: red 40, yellow 5, blue 1, and yellow 6. Various European countries have banned food dyes that have been approved for use by the FDA in the United States. For this reason, the Froot Loops blend sold to European nations contains no food coloring and a significantly shorter ingredient list. The European version has seven ingredients listed on the box while the American version has 26.

Karp said, “It is literally anti-American to sell a more toxic, inferior version to our children.” Calley Means, who appeared on The HighWire last month, said, “It is un-American; they insert provably toxic ingredients into American food they don’t use in Europe.” He added, “Red 40 is literally crude oil. We have completely lost the plot with “evidence-based medicine” when the FDA is saying there’s not enough data to suggest mixing crude oil in our kid’s food is harmful. Evidence-based medicine is killing us.”

AFCs continue to be included in breakfast cereals marketed to children and these petroleum-based food dyes are linked to hyperactive behavior. As of 2022, 11.4% of children aged 3-17 have been diagnosed with ADHD, which equates to one out of every nine children in the United States. Meanwhile, a UK report states, “The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence estimates the global prevalence of ADHD in children to be around 5%, and in adults in the UK at 3% – 4%. Data on ADHD available to NHS England is collected across multiple datasets and is varied in terms of completeness and coverage.”

About half of the diagnosed children in the US are taking medications to treat ADHD, which equates to 5% of all children in the country. A JAMA study last year found an increased risk of cardiovascular disease for people taking ADHD medications, specifically arterial disease and hypertension.

The NPR article about the latest data on ADHD diagnoses includes a statement from Dr. Max Wiznitzer, a professor of pediatric neurology. Dr. Wiznitzer was alarmed that less than half of children with ADHD are receiving behavioral therapy, but he said the medication is important to implement with the therapy. Dr. Wiznitzer and the NPR article never mention the potential correlation with dietary choices.

The expert panel that published its proposed nutritional competencies for medical students and physician trainees states, “Dietary patterns are one of the strongest behavioral influences on disease risk regardless of individual genetics. Seven of the 10 leading causes of death in the US are directly affected by diet.”

The NPR report illustrates the lack of nutrition in the discussion, encouraging more medical intervention than attempting dietary changes. With the link between petroleum-based food dyes and the increased percentage of ADHD-diagnosed children, the FDA and major corporations like Kellogg’s are facing criticism for allowing harmful ingredients that are not being sold in European countries.

An expert panel concluded that nutrition is not actively taught to medical students and identified a total of 354 nutritional competencies. The panel narrowed that down to 36 competencies it recommends for students studying at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

The recommended competencies include:

-Guide patients about food choices in establishing lifelong dietary patterns to promote healthy weight and prevention address chronic disease.

-Demonstrate knowledge of possible drug-nutrient interactions between certain foods, beverages, and medications.

-Demonstrate knowledge of nutritional differences between unprocessed, minimally processed, and ultra-processed foods.

-Interpret information on nutrition facts panels, nutrition labels, and menus to make appropriate recommendations to support patients’ individual needs and food choices.

36 out of 37 experts on the panel believe that these nutrition competencies should be evaluated as part of licensing and board certification examinations.