Community of Practice Nutrition: Developing a European curriculum

A meeting of the ADEE Community of Practice on Nutrition with a specific focus on an consensus agreed curriculum.

A healthy nutritious diet is essential to develop and maintain good oral health while also playing a key role in the primary prevention of many non-communicable diseases (NCDs). A lack of adequate training and confidence to carry out dietary assessment, nutrition analysis and provide appropriate dietary advice have been highlighted as key obstacles for oral healthcare professionals to manage these aspects of patient care.

There is increased awareness of the importance of nutrition training for non-nutritionists and acknowledgement of the fundamental role of nutrition in health and disease. There is also a growing influence of nutrition misinformation and pseudoscience particularly in relation to nutrition health claims and dietary recommendations which requires a multidisciplinary effort to manage. The negative consequences of a diet high in fat, sugar and salt on population health have been well described and include malnutrition, inflammatory diseases and poor oral health. The WHO Global Nutrition Report (2022) states that obesity and diet-related NCDs are increasing while we fail to meet the minimum

standards for SHDs. Understanding the importance of sustainability within the practice of dentistry and the wider impact of food production, consumption and waste on greenhouse gas emissions is crucial for current and future generations of oral health care workers. Given the health and dietary impacts presented by climate change a planned nutrition curriculum should incorporate the principles of sustainable healthy eating.

Health-care professionals who also follow dietary guidelines are more is likely to improve their own health and well-being while creating a role model for patients who actively seek guidance. Nutrition is a fundamental component of good oral and general health and a well-designed, evidence based curriculum needs to reflect this and equip the profession with an appropriate skill-set required for the challenges outlined.

The session has three core objectives:

1. To design a curriculum that provides students with basic knowledge and understanding of nutrition within a framework that incorporates the general principles of a sustainable healthy diet (SHD).
2. To appraise the current evidence-base for providing core competencies and clinical skills to improve oral health outcomes and understand the importance for overall health.
3. To include interdisciplinary components of dietary assessment and nutrition that enable screening, referral and health promotion.