for better serve all communities, diversity in dietetics needs to be prioritized.
Here’s why the field is still so whiteand what should be done.
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Additionally, food and eating are deeply entrenched in cultural norms and practices.
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The road to good nutrition for ethnic minority groups is nuanced.
To reach as many as possible, people within these minority groups need to inform nutrition practices.
However, the public face of nutrition is a white one, especially in the dietetics community.
But in the United States,77.8 percent of RDs are white.
I would go to my internship really early, leave by three or four.
In the curriculum, cultural foods are taught separately, giving the impression that it is other.
It causes anxiety among other things, says Turner.
White instructors also often are not well-versed in said cultural foods and practices.
Even nutrition research perpetuates the white-centric focus of healthy eating.
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The inequities, of course, dont stop once training is completed.
She was told that the people they targeted for the site would not find that helpful.
As a person of color, I felt very unseen, she says.
We need more representation in the field but especially in leadership positions, saysDeanna Belleny, MPH, RD.
She also helps clients apply for services like food stamps and grocery delivery.
Dietitians of color are also often able to identify gaps in information.
However, there is always room for growth.
They forget that different countries have different dishes.
I am in what is considered a straight-sized body; Im also not super thin.
And my clients feel comforted, says Soto.
However, though the committee pushed hard, the percentage of dietitians of color has not significantly increased.
It is a systemic problem that needs to be addressed on a higher level.
Dietitians are also doing what they can on an individual level to support students and new RDs.
Diversify Dietetics Mentor Program requires mentors to understand the systemic barriers that impact students and professionals of color.
There is still a lot of work to be done to address racism and diversity in dietetics.
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