Navigating the complexity of applying nutrition evidence to individualised care: Summary of an Academy of Nutrition Sciences position paper

Abstract

Diet is key to the maintenance of health and crucial in the prevention and management of many diseases. Modified nutrient intake may become essential to prevent deficiency, optimise development and health or manage symptoms and disease progression. Adding to the complexity, disease and its treatment can also affect taste, appetite and ability to access and prepare foods. Coupled with this, individual requirements for energy, macronutrients and micronutrients are influenced by factors such as life stage (age, growth, pregnancy, etc.) and health status, which can affect the processes of consuming, digesting, absorbing, metabolising or excreting nutrients. First and foremost, dietary advice must be based on sound evidence if it is to achieve and maintain human health. Furthermore, the practice of nutrition and dietetics must integrate and apply the sciences of food, nutrition, biology, physiology, behaviour management, communication, and must also recognise the context that society presents, including the plethora of often-conflicting information on diet and health available via the internet and other media sources.