The ADA is starting 2012 on the attack by introducing bills in 9 states and preparing for more—trying to sew up a legally enforced national monopoly before opposition can mount. Read the updated status of the bills below.
These bills are very restrictive, and ensure that only ADA-registered dietitians can practice key nutrition services. This not only discriminates against many highly qualified nutritionists (including those who, unlike most Registered Dietitians, have Master’s degrees and PhDs), it also interferes with consumer choice. If trained nutritionists cannot become licensed, they can’t practice—and consumers can’t benefit from their expertise. Moreover, the advice that RDs provide is seriously flawed.
As the Really Eat Right campaign notes, internal ADA documents reveal that the ADA is chiefly concerned not with consumer and patient interests, but with eliminating competition in the field of nutrition to allow RDs to operate more profitable and successful businesses. We recognize the ADA’s interest in promoting the profession of dietetics for its members. But the best way to help RDs is not to create a legally enforced monopoly. It is to provide them with the latest and best information in nutritional science. For instance, instead of providing a platform for Coca-Cola to instruct RDs that sugar is perfectly fine for children, they might invite esteemed medical professionals like Dr. Robert Lustig to instruct RDs in the serious health concerns over the consumption of sugar.
The ADA receives about $1 million a year in payments from pharmaceutical companies, and allows pharmaceutical companies to market their controversial products at ADA events. At the 2007 ADA Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo, GlaxoSmithKline was allowed to promote their first over-the-counter diet pill, Alli, even though the drug’s weight loss effectiveness is minimal and side effects such as hard-to-control bowel movements and anal discharge are common. The FDA has since issued warnings to Alli, noting the possibly of severe liver damage, and consumer groups are asking the FDA to remove Alli from the market.
ADA also receives payments from Coca-Cola, Hershey, the National Dairy Council, Mars, PepsiCo, and others, though the organization won’t say exactly how much they receive from these candy and soft drink companies and industry associations. We have deep concerns about any organization having a monopoly on nutrition, but a junk-food-sponsored organization is even worse! The ADA already has a monopoly in many states and in many fields. Have you wondered why the food in hospitals is so poor and even a threat to people’s health? Yes, that is the result of ADA monopoly.
Not only that, but the ADA encourages a conventional medical approach, which does nothing for chronic health problems. Nutritionists, on the other hand, and some excellent independent-thinking RDs (many of whom go on to get graduate degrees in nutrition) tend to take an integrative approach and concentrate on genuine prevention.
Below we’ll outline the basics involved in each state bill. If you are a citizen of those states, please respond to the Action Alert for your state, or forward the alert to friends or family members who live in that state.
If you are interested in getting even more involved, and wish to be part of our lobby meetings with your state legislators, please email us for more information.
Please take action today!
California DEFEATED!
AB 575 would create a new Dietitians Bureau Bureau under the Department of Consumer Affairs. Under this bill, nutritionists are forced to take the ADA exam and become licensed as dietitians in order to practice, even if they already have a Master’s degree or a PhD. This is a perfect opportunity for California nutritionists to meet with legislators and educate them on the disastrous effects of the bill if it were to be passed.
The bill is currently in committee; it needs to be voted upon there, and if passed, would then be taken up by the entire Assembly and voted on by January 31—or else it is considered defeated and cannot be brought up for further consideration. Given the budget constraints in California, passage of AB 575 won’t be automatic, and with the sponsor of the bill’s recent shoplifting conviction, there may not be another bill if this one is defeated. It is, however, not a “done deal,” and last year’s bill very nearly passed, so we need to stay vigilant and make sure California legislators know we’re not backing down.
California residents please take action now!
Colorado DEFEATED!
HB 1060, introduced on January 1, would ensure that only Dietitians can practice (Colorado currently has no statute for nutrition professionals). This is a scope-of-practice bill that controls the practice of dietetics and medical nutrition therapy—which are defined very broadly to include nutrition assessment, nutrition care process, diagnosis, nutrition monitoring, and evaluation (things that nutritionists do as well). It would also create a Board, which would be controlled by Dietitians, thus ensuring a bias against nutritionists. The bill includes a penalty for practicing without a license: a fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment for not more than six months, with each day of violation constituting a separate offense! Hearing on Monday, February 6!
Colorado residents please take action now!
Hawaii DEFEATED!
HB 2570 would allow only licensed dietitians to “practice dietetics”. “Dietetics practice” as defined in the bill encompasses a wide range of nutrition services including the integration and application of scientific principles of nutrition, biochemistry and food in achieving and maintaining human health. These are services performed routinely by many qualified and practicing nutritionists.
HB 2570 effectively creates a monopoly on nutrition services exclusively for dietitians, denying consumers access to expert advice from nutritionists, some of the most highly educated and well-respected professionals in the field of nutrition.
Hawaii residents please take action now!
Illinois – Much Improved!
SB2936 as introduced in February would have continued the monopoly on nutrition services exclusively for dietitians, denying consumers access to expert advice from nutritionists, some of the most highly educated and well-respected professionals in the field of nutrition. The improved bill passed in IL will now:
– Add the CBNS, CCN and DACBN exams or other accepted by the Dept. in addition to the RD exam;
– Accept MS degrees w/ additional nutrition majors (instead of only Dietetics majors) from regionally accredited colleges;
– Equal representation of non-dietitians on the Illinois Dietitian and Nutrition Board; and
– Expand exemptions and allow for others to provide information about healthy diets, food and supplement use, including supplement, federally regulated label claims, individually and as components of nutritional programs, as long as as the information is not an individual prescription to address an existing health condition.
Indiana – DEFEATED!
HB 1187 was introduced on January 8 and has been referred to the Committee on Public Health. This is a scope-of-practice bill that controls the “practice of dietetics” but also covers nutrition therapy (including medical nutrition therapy), nutrition assessments, nutrition care processes, nutrition care services, nutrition counseling, nutrition diagnoses, nutrition intervention, and nutrition monitoring and evaluation. All of the licensure requirements are the same as for ADA dietitian registration; the educational requirements include ADA-type courses not relevant to nutritionists such as taking a course in food management systems.
Indiana residents please take action now!
New Jersey
S 833 was reintroduced on January 10. ADA pushed similar licensure bills in New Jersey during the previous legislative session without success, thanks to your activism! They are, however, persistent—so we must continue fighting them.
This bill creates a licensure procedure for “licensed dietitians/nutritionists.” By lumping the two professions together, it ignores the vast philosophical differences between the two. This is a scope-of-practice bill which includes medical nutrition therapy, nutrition assessment, diagnosis, intervention, monitoring, and evaluation of nutrition care plans, nutrition support (including parenteral and enteral nutrition, nutritional counseling and education, and nutrition care standards and systems). Qualifications for licensure are the ADA requirements, which ignores the educational achievements of nutritionists and doesn’t acknowledge the differences between the two professions.
New Jersey residents please take action now!
New York
A 5666 and its identical companion bill in the NY Senate, S 3556, provide for the licensure of dietitians and nutritionists. This proposed bill lumps dieticians and nutritionists together under one title, “Licensed Dietitian/Nutritionist” or “LDN” rather than providing separate licensing for each.
Before the legislature adjourned for the summer in 2011, the Senate version of the bill made it as far as the Senate rules committee, making a vote on the senate floor imminent. However, due to a groundswell of opposition from consumers and nutrition professionals in New York, the bill has been referred back to the Committee on Higher Education now that the legislature has reconvened in 2012.
We have also learned that due to the many flaws in the bill (pointed out by our activists and nutrition allies) legislators in New York are considering making revisions to the bill. We’ll remain vigilant to make sure they make the right revisions. We have also received confirmation that at least one cosponsor of the bill, Sen. Joseph A. Griffo, has decided to drop his cosponsorship of the bill.
A 5666 remains sitting in the assembly committee on higher education, where we left it in 2011.
The bill would create a joint board, appointing four members of the ADA and three representing nutritional associations. It does not identify the required exam—but it directs the board to do so. We have run into this problem in other states, where the board, filled via statute by ADA reps, refuses any but the ADA exam. Note further that this is a title provision, meaning that they aren’t preventing the practice of nutrition (subject to these requirements), but they are limiting the title by which one may advertise! If they can’t advertise, that severely restricts their practice. So even though it is a titling restriction, in practice it becomes effectively a scope-of-practice restriction.
New York currently recognizes examinations from other groups in addition to the ADA to qualify applicants for licensure—in particular the Certification Board for Nutrition Specialists (CBNS), which is specifically designed for nutritionists. This bill allows the board to determine the qualifying exam, so once the ADA-majority board takes its first vote, the openness to CBNS and other organizations’ exams would be stopped. Moreover, along with passing the exam, an individual would still have to fulfill all the other requirements for licensure outlined in the bill—which are all standard-issue ADA.
Any new legislation must keep nutritionists separate from dieticians (who will immediately take control of the licensing process), and must ensure the same protections.
New York residents please take action now!
Virginia – DELAYED UNTIL 2013
HB 345 would allow only licensed dietitians to “medical nutrition therapy” and “nutrition care process. “ “Medical Nutrition Therapy” and “nutrition care process” as defined in the bill encompasses a wide range of nutrition services including including performing nutrition diagnosis and intervention, all of which fall in the scope of practice of any highly qualified and self respecting nutritionist.
HB 345 effectively creates a monopoly on nutrition services exclusively for dietitians, denying consumers access to expert advice from nutritionists, some of the most highly educated and well-respected professionals in the field of nutrition.
West Virginia – DEFEATED
HB 4045 was introduced on January 12. If it passes, only licensed dietitians can practice dietetics or medical nutrition therapy. “Dietetics” is here defined to include the sciences of nutrition, biochemistry, food, physiology, health management; “medical nutrition therapy” is defined as the nutritional diagnostic assessment and nutrition therapy services for the purpose of disease management. Four of the five board members will be registered or licensed dietitians, and since the exam to qualify for licensure will be board-determined, it will almost certainly be the ADA exam. All other requirements are the same as the ADA’s. Practicing without a license would fetch a fine of between $100 and $1000, or a jail sentence of up to six months.
West Virginia residents please take action now!
Elimination of competition is pure Marxist communism. Welcome to the USSA.
That is absurd!!! I am a Nutritional Therapist and would never want to be associated with an association that accepts money from Big pharma and pharmaceutical drugs! I got into this field to get healthy and help others do the same- not to suggest pharma drugs!
I would like to participate in your campaigns.
I was going to college to be a biochemist and work in the field of nutrition. I dropped out after I found out once I graduated, after 7 years I could not work in the nutrition lab of any federal institution. That was back in the 1980’s I see so much needless suffering and pain and death due to greed. I hope this legislation is stopped.
This seems really anti American. Why is their dietetic advice more valuable than Master of Science in Human Nutrition or a PhD? Where is their logic. It seems their interest is monetary if others are restricted from practicing. The consumer should be allowed to make their own choice
More erosion of our freedoms…more “better than the rest of us” folks who want total control….more worthless and actually harmful ideas coming from those who supposedly
are there to help…ya, help themselves as usual! I sincerely hope that these horrid efforts
on the part of the ADA can be stopped once and for all; I’m sure they will try to do the same
in every state if they have success…Thanks for keeping us informed on this!
See my comment under “Big Pharma Routinely Suppresses Data…” I qualified to become a RD but would not bow down to ADA or FDA and refused to take the test. The referenced comment explains all.
I just listen to Bill Moyer, on the subject of government abetting Big Business and over looking or down right turning a blind eye and ear to the common sense middle class under attack from the wealthy 1%.
The ADA appears to be in the same bed. They don’t care about people, just the bottom line and the assistance to the death of the populaces, that paid their salaries. Just disregard to the common person is criminal, and to be in the so…..called healing professionals. What a sham!!
This has to be STOPPED today because there will be NO freedom of choice and that is just not right not right at all.
Dear friends, please feel free to use these talking points as you sign the petition, if you agree with them. If not, that is fine too. Sorry for the caps, these were intended to separate out my personalized message from ANH’s and not intended to be shouts. Thank you for understanding and have a great day. Please pass word around widely! There is a strength in numbers. Best wishes…..
EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO PRACTICE ANY PROFESSION OR SPECIALTY OF THEIR CHOOSING, SO LONG AS IT IS DOING NO HARM. THIS IS AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL POWER GRAB AND SQUEEZES OUT FREEDOM OF CHOICE.
IT SO HAPPENS THAT I HAVE BEEN VERY UN-IMPRESSED BY STATEMENTS MADE BY RD’S IN MAGAZINES ETC. VERY UNINFORMED, EVEN CONFESSING IGNORANCE AND EMBARRASSING TO THEIR PROFESSION, WHILE NOT HELPING PEOPLE AT ALL. I DO NOT INTEND TO BE BIASED OR UNKIND BUT IT REALLY HAS BEEN TRUE.
HOLISTIC NUTRITIONAL CONSULTING MAY BE THE WAY OF THE FUTURE. THERE IS GROWING INTEREST IN THIS, WITH THE PUBLIC, LEAVE PEOPLE FREE TO CHOOSE TO FOLLOW THEIR OWN PREFERRED PATH OF EDUCATION, AND TO PRACTICE AS THEY SO CHOOSE, BY CONSTITUTIONAL LAW.
THANK YOU.
PS I want to address any arguments that nutrition, herbs, etc are not being scientifically studied and that such practitioners have no such training. This is just not true.
http://www.pubmed.gov
Above is the US Government medical database. Enter any drug or nutrient, and any condition, into the search box and studies will come up.
RD’s have the attitude that theirs is the only science-based study of nutrition. I believe that they study the science, but have to argue with their assertion that theirs is the only such training.
It simply isn’t true.
I meant to say that you can enter any drug, *herb* or nutrient into the search box, and it will come up. Note the inclusion of *herbs* here, sorry I forgto to write that but it surely was on my mind. Thanks everybody.
Coalmine canary: thanks for your constitutional language. Will save and use in a few other places as well. It’s despicable – this assault on our freedoms. If I went the mainstream medical route for “MS” symptoms, I’d probably be dead now. I went gluten free and lots of enzymes and healing supplements and healthy and no symptoms (unless get hidden gluten) for 8 years and counting.
Can theADA
The ADA, by promoting colas, sugar, and diets guaranteed to bring on heart attacks, strokes and diabetes to most people who faithfully follow them. There miust be alternatives. The ADA is often 25-50 years behind the times.
Hospital and SNF food is notoriously terrible. When I had surgery last September, the rules stated that I could not have any nutritionals for 2 weeks ahead of time, but I could have aspirin! How better to raise the mortality rate!. They did not know what a vegetarian and a vegan diet were This has happened to me and my parents for years. HUMANA offered me free frozen dinners after my surgery, but there was not one thing in the ten frozen dinners that I could eat or that had even a modicum of nutrition for anyone! Making the ADA a monopoly will only make things worse.
It is very obvious that the FDA and the FTC need someone to be accountable to, as they have also become the agents of big business. They sometimes do good, but sometimes they raid the best, most inovative people and companies around. Nutritionists should have their own societies, and the ADA should have competition even in the dietetics field. This will promote choice and advance knowledge. I want to stay alive.
Send me some petitions and I will sign it and send it to friends. This greedy, fearful, dishonest behavior needs to be stopped
Thanks for all your work!
I have diabetes and rely on holistic care in addition to the usual. Regular diabetic provider said I have to eat carbs, so did it for 3 mos in spite of being aware MY body does not like carbs, and of course got worse. Holistic care has helped the most, so want to be able to keep! (I cancelled the appt with the “carb” doctor.)
You hear all this talk about “personal freedoms” “liberty”…our Constitutional Rights getting taken away by the very elected officials that took an OATH TO UP HOLD THEM!! When are WE THE PEOPLE going to stand up and say enough is enough. We speak out against Big Pharma that pays off the FDA who is in bed with the AMA and the ADA…(the list is long) and your looked at as you’re Un American, a conspiracy kook…when your speaking the truth. Why do you think that this NEWS will not make it on the MSM?? Look who’s paying them off with a Pharmaceutical, Liver Toxic, POISON PILL commercial!! Its a CRIME! Seriously..this is a CRIME being committed against us.You can chew me out for getting “Political” but Im sick and tired of our GOD GIVEN RIGHTS getting trampled on then taken away..Im DEMANDING that my Constitutional Rights are RESTORED. If we dont stop this madness NOW when are we going to stop it? Im voting for Dr.Ron Paul and no one else. He’s the ONLY one not getting paid off by these monsters and he’s the ONLY one who speaks out about it. Im PROUD to be part of the Ron Paul Revolution!
All the other states aside from these 6 already have liscensure laws in place…
While it may be true that some of the advice that some RD’s may provide can be flawed (dare I mention human error), but what about the “nutritionists” that get their data from non-science based ‘.com’ websites and provide counsel to clients? I do acknowledge there are some very well educated nutritionists, but every single RD completes a 4 year bachelor of science degree completing organic and biochemistry courses with advanced metabolism, a full-time unpaid internship, passes a national board exam and completes contuining education. Many RD’s are also board certified specialists (oncology, nutrition support, weight management, pediatrics). Also of note, RD’s are not required to be members of ADA. In the clinical setting, I have worked with RD’s whose knowledge base puts them on the level of MD’s, and more often than not, the MD’s ask us for advice on complicated hospitalized patients.
These laws are to ensure that only safe, science-based information is provided to the general public. While I agree that it prevents some other qualified folks from doing there job, there’s always the option to go back to school to get your RD.
Are people like you paid to post here? I have to wonder about this. Where do these ideas come from? Nutritionists lack science-based training, and RD’s are the only ones who have it? This is a bogus claim. It gets tiring to read such statements. We all know better, It does not help your credibility, or that of RD’s in general, to tout this bias.
May I ask where these so-called “nutritionists” are going to school. All signs are pointing to Rasmussen College, or perhaps, University of Phoenix?
Next thing you know you’ll want MD’s to not need a license. Heck, anyone can be a doctor right!
You really insult RD’s with your statement. they are not coke peddling psychopaths.
Nutritionists could just get an RD. If they really have ‘all these science credits’ they wont have too much more to do to get their credential.
Theres a reason licenses exist. Its the same reason you drive a car with one. Your 8 year old brother might be a better driver than you, but he cant take the test, and he hasnt, so no license for him.
cry harder, life is tough. Just cuz you play doctor doesnt mean you are one. if its so easy, get an RD.
Speaking from experience, getting an RD is TOUGH!!! Nutrition is not easy. I am a nutritionist too, not an RD!
You seem to be missing the point and looking at this issue in extremely narrow way. Licensed nutritionist are very qualified. In fact, licensed nutritionists are far more qualified to help patients than many Registered Dietitians, because look at at the health of a person in a more integrated way and encourage prevention. It is all about greed. This is the real issue. This is the way of monopolies. It is also about the lack of a freedom of choice. People should have a right to go to whomever they wish for healing.
As the chair of the Texas Health Freedom Coalition, the nation’s largest state level natural health advocacy organization, I applaud the efforts of ANH-USA to bring this important issue to the attention of the American public. For too long, the ADA (now the Academy of Dietetics and Nutrition (ADN)) has attempted to conceal the true extent of their affiliation with Big Pharma and Big Food. The result has been an epidemic of obesity, diabetes and chronic/degenerative illness, which threatens to bankrupt our otherwise prosperous society. One has only to look at the ADN’s own web site (http://www.eatright.org/corporatesponsors) to see the extent of their indebtedness to these huge conglomerates.
I ask all the ones that are against regulation of dietetics profession if you would like to have MDs with unregulated credentials as well? Remember we are made of food and not of drugs, yet people look to drugs with more respect than to food. It is required a deep knowledge about metabolism, biochemistry, physiology, food-drug interaction, behaviour and many other fields to be a good RD. There are good and bad RDs same as MDs same as RNs same as any other profession but without any regulation things would be chaotic. Unfortunately most of people doesn’t have the ability of self-regulation. You want to stop the lobbies of drug companies, of food companies stop buying their products, inform yourself, learn, be in charge of your health, know your body, take care of it, know your disease better that the doctor in this age of information all good health books are available either at the library or online. Ignorance is the only thing that allows monopoly and lobbies.
The BEST thing (in my opinion) would be for MDs to “get out of the way” and allow Americans to get sensible treatment of their disease aliments …. NOT just treat the symptoms that pharmaceuticals are prescribed for (usually). The clout of the AMA and the pharmaceutical companies is barely short of criminal. Yes I agree that Americans are brainwashed by the commercials and the stratgies of the medical profession to respect drugs MORE than food. Even though MDs are regulated, from what I’ve researched … more Americans die from medical treatments than die from the diseases they are treated for.
I have to agree wholeheartedly with Catia Borges People need to be more “self” responsible and cease giving over their care mindlessly to someone else and seriously boycott the people and the companies that are actually taking away our health rather than enhancing it..
On the contrary, I think caveat emptor (buyer beware) rather than licensing would probably protect the consumer and give us better health care than what we have now with certain organizations monopolizing healthcare. The AMA was formed explicitly to force other healthcare providers of the time out of business, although the AMA claimed they were going to improve medical training which they didnt do. The AMA had the financial backing of the pharmaceutical industry which gave them the might to eliminate competing healthcare systems. The AMA is still a primary constraint on the market, keeping medical care expensive and true healthcare rare. In the very recent past they tried to force chiropractors out of the market; failing fortunately. We dont need another agent of monopoly like the ADA. California and other states have recently aquired a Health Freedom law that allows non-licensed healthcare professionals to practice (without the threat of “practicing medicine without a license” lawsuits) as long as they dont do any invasive procedures and give full disclosure of their training and what they practice. These non-licensed practitioners could still be subject to malpractice lawsuits, like everyone else. So let the RDs compete with everyone else on the basis of skills, not on the basis of an artificial monopoly.
Nice job ANH on your great write-up of the situation!! We, in MI have successful stalled implementation of a law passed in 2006 and are now waiting to hear the recommendations of a Regulatory Review panel that evaluated to see whether this law (and many others) constitutes excessive regulation. That review came about as a direct result of consumer action and an organized effort.
Anyone in one of the states where laws are currently being fought–CA, CO, NY, NJ, VA, W. VA and IN can get/stay connected with on-the-ground organizing efforts that are starting, by going to the FB page https://www.facebook.com/UnitedinHealth and liking us. This is of course in addition to following through on ANH petitions.
We NEED people who are willing to get involved. It’s not always convenient and takes times, but imagine how “inconvenient” it would be to lose your practice or the right to see the practitioner of your choice!
SO, what can Floridians do? Give us LINKS and/or NAMES & phone numbers.
Hi Jenifer, at this time there are no bills pending in Florida. We will be the first to alert you should one be introduced!
Though I do agree with some of the comments on here, I am a practicing Registered Dietitian working in a federally funded program in MI and I am unable to provide certain information, chart or assess a client because I am not licensed. I may not agree with everything the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics promotes and am not fully in agreement with licensure but I am unable to provide the best care to my clients because I am not licensed. So unless you are in a position similiar to mine you wouldn’t understand why licensure is a benefit, and most individuals should become fully educated on the subject pros/cons before completely dismissing it.
Personally, I have no issue with RDs receiving licensure. The problem is that the Academy is helping to write the state legislative bills to also exclude all non-RDs from licensure and therefore insurance reimbursement. If reimbursement for nutrition care becomes common (which I think it is), only RDs would be able to survive finanacially, and non-RDs would be forced to close up shop. That’s the elimination of an entire profession. We just want a level playing field.
Seriously! You call self-proclaimed nutritionists a profession?
Get your facts straight on the bills. I can’t speak for all states but I do know in my state the language in the bill is inclusive of other “nutritionists”. We just expect them to be licensed if we as RDs are expected to be licensed.
As a 30+ year registered dietitian, I have been disgusted by our professional association for decades and finally dropped my membership several years ago. I think the focus for dietitians education has been blind, biased and one sided for far too long. I live in Florida and have been licensed here for 22 years. The law is worthless and has so many holes in it that it doesn’t prevent the spread of bad information by non-licensed individuals. In some states, the licensure laws are so restrictive that qualified individuals from other states can’t even speak on nutrition topics at conferences. With the internet, individuals can get all kinds of information 24/7. You can buy all kinds of books on diet and nutrition, good and bad, so what is the point to licensure? I think licensure is a waste of time and money and doesn’t have any benefit to the consumer but is just one more paperwork hassle for the state. The time for licensure benefits was 30 years ago. It is too late now.
MavisMiller,
I am also an RD and I completely agree with you. I was so disgusted and disappointed with the ADA that I have stopped renewing my ‘forced’ membership which was required while I was a working professional.
I too, am an RD. I completely disagree with AND, BUT I do not know any other “nutrition” professionals who know anything about TPN and EN, do you? I agree there are many other types of “nutritionist” out there, some good, some not. How do we keep the not out of the ICU?
I recognize that the ADA has both strengths and weaknesses regarding nutrition therapy, just as every business entity does. However, giving them a monopoly in this field is a complete injustice to the public. As they put their health in professionals’ hands, the public should be allowed to see a nutritionist that THEY SEE FIT, not that they are legally limited to. I am a student studying holistic nutrition therapy. I have invested thousands of dollars and hard work into furthering my education in this realm. I am also a personal trainer and plan to help people acheive balance from the inside out. If this bill passes, all my of money and time will be wasted. Not to mention the professional and qualified practicing nutritionists who will be out of business in a down economy. The last thing we need to do is eliminate jobs. I do not want to even get into the disgusting political aspect of this proposition. It aggrevates and disgusts me too much. PLEASE DO NOT LET THIS BILL PASS. I cannot stress my concern enough.
The advice provided by nutritionists and nutrition therapists presents a growing threat to the dietetic field for one simple reason: it works! And consumers know it works, so they are seeking it out and taking profits away from dietitians. The Academy of Nutrition of Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association as of January 2012) is attempting to eliminate the competition via state legislatures. It is a very dangerous precedent and slippery slope to have state governments take out entire professional fields just because an organization wants them to. What’s next? The American Medical Association seeking to take out chiropractors and acupuncturists, state by state? The prospects are frightening. Americans need to stand up for their healthcare liberties now, because they are slowly disappearing.
Correction: Academy of Nutrition AND Dietetics, not “of” Dietetics.
Some sponsors insisted the organization be called:
Certified Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Yo-yo’s (CANDY). Soft drink manufacturers objected.
As a naturopathic physician, I am appalled at the ADA’s push to make nutritional advice “illegal” by practitioners aside from RDs. First of all, I completed my undergraduate education in Dietetics. I had the choice of completing an internship in a clinic or nursing home and decided to seek out a better, more extensive nutrition education. My education as an RD was absolutely elementary and skewed by the USDA. I learned “medical nutrition” which emphasized a low-fat diet for nearly every pathology, and endorsed processed foods as long as they were medically “enriched.” Individualized nutrition was never spoken of. We abided by the USDA’s food pyramid (which everyone knows is a joke).
Completing my degree would have allowed me to work in a clinic, school, or nursing home for $30,000 a year. RDs are getting phased out of clinics and hospitals since the failing healthcare system cannot afford to fund them. OF COURSE the ADA is looking for a way to keep their profession alive and thriving. Their jobs are threatened. Nutrition is a highly opinionated topic of conversation. Anyone can claim themselves to be a “nutritionist” if they read a book. Of course we need to be weary as these people can give harmful advice. But what an ABSURDITY to criminalize those who have MORE nutritional education than RDs! Naturopathic doctors are skilled nutritionists with 4 years of academic and clinical nutrition whereas RDs have a 9 month internship in one place.
I dont know what the answer is for saving the RDs, other than expanding their education. Their system is flawed, and they should not try to criminalize other qualified experts because of it.
This is Unconscienable, but Not surprising! Corruption and greed try to overcome what’s RIGHTat every turn. We, Americans, MUST FIGHT their corruption and greed with knowledge, diligence, and the faith knowing that we will Overcome the corrupt industries. Let’s Stay fiery enough to do what’s right for us and for our children, grandchildren, and other generations to come. : )
Ten years ago I was diagnosed as diabetic and the MD commented casually that I needed to lose some weight. I started on the Atkins diet and lost 45 pounds while the clinic RD was on vacation. When she came back, she lost it over the Atkins diet and promptly started me on a diet of her own design. I followed it meticulously, weighing my portions to insure compliance and steadily and promptly gained over fifty pounds. The RD was very negative and insisted that I could not be following her diet. I was. Subsequent attempts to lose the weight saw me down to 400 calories a day until I stared to show symptoms of malnutrition without losing any weight. The clinic RD was totally unable to prescribe any protocol that alloweed me to lose the weight. I do not have a lot of confidence in certified RDs or people with ADA certification.
HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT RD’s ONLY HAVE 9 MONTHS OF INTERNSHIP. Why is everyone beating each other up! Of course we all have different experiences but to totally bash an RD is absurd! You are skewing the facts to make your selves look good. RD’s go through 4 years of schooling and 9 month or 1200 hours of clinical practice. This is almost five years so when you say that Naturopathic doctors have 4 years of “academic and clinical nutrition” it is less than that of an RD. Please stop misinforming people further! This site only gives half the facts and skews it in a way to make others look bad for their own benefit. This is not helping the public achieve health and that is what we are here for! PLEASE STOP THIS! WE CAN ACHIEVE GREATER THINGS IF WE WORK TOGETHER!!!
Where did you attend school to earn your BS degree in Nutrition? I earned a degree in the 1980’s…I was never taught what you wrote. You should definitely go back to that school and DEMAND you money back…
How dare that insitution teach you about process foods. You sure you didn’t major in hotel food and management ALONG WITH FOOD SERVICE course instead…Now they will teach you how to preserve processed foods.
Actually the RDs 9 month internship is a rotation through clinical,food service and community nutrition. I am finishing up my internship right now. I do not agree with many of the things the AND does and I will probably not practice many of the things that they push. Some “nutritionist” are good at their jobs and give solid messages to their clients. However, there are many more quacks out there trying to make money off of Fad diets or because they have their own nutrition issues and put their skewed views on others. Thats why it is important to tighten the reins on the name.
I weigh in with a Constitutional fact:
That it is unconstitutional dictatorship, to disallow Profession X from practicing, and to disallow patients/clients from seeking out guidance from anybody they have faith in, and so choose to consult with.
This is not about camp a or camp b, solely. It is about freedom, under constittutional law.
Anybody who twists the “facts” around to reflect any outcome other than freedom, is deluding themselves and has an agenda in mind.
It is not what our founding fathers would have approved, neither is it in alignment with the spirit of the law.
Time to face the perpetrators of freedom, in court.
The Land Of the Free and The Home of the Brave is losing its rights to pursue LIFE, LIBERTY and the pursuit of happiness . TIME TO MAKE A BIG NOISE AND SHAKE THE GATES OF HELL. ! Please people get involved with your local TEA PARTY AND OR LOCAL 912PROJECT.. We must band together and get the long time Senators and Congressmen who have been sitting in those seats for years out.. THEY HAVE A GOOD OLE BOY’S CLUB UP THERE and are working with eachother on BOTH SIDES OF THE ISLE and playing us for fools..ELECTIONS ARE THE WAY TO STOP THEM..The TEA PARTY IS ALL ABOUT LESS GOVERNMENT AND MORE FREEDOM!!
ELECTIONS ARE THE WAY TO STOP THEM…??? .The TEA PARTY IS ALL ABOUT LESS GOVERNMENT….. This is pure BS & ignorance! The Tea Partiers are primarily Fox News indoctrinated (Corporate-owned) Republicans! We did not have more freedom under President Bush -(Corporate/Oil owned) we had fear-provoking justifications for all sorts of loses on ‘our rights’. And President Obama is more Republican than Democrat…whatever that is! Most, if not all politicians are purchased and groomed by the Corporations to do their bidding! Our Country is run by greedy Corporations at the ‘cost’ of the peoples best interests. This government is not a “Government of the people, by the people, for the people…” Wake up! All politicians are Corporate-owned puppets! They are not for the people! I’m sure they enjoy the infighting and hate that keeps this country separated -it takes the focus off their wrong-doings.
First off Im a dietitian who does not believe in any of the lies that ADA or the dairy council sells us. I agree that the ADA has been compromised, they are essentially a useless organization. That being said, all RD’s should not be lumped into the same category, yes there are many who take what ADA preaches and recycle it to the public, but not all of us. I dont take the advise of the ADA, or agree with most of thier stand on issues of Nutrition. They have been infiltrated by big business. Our need for cow products is a lie, Eating excessive animal protein is dangerous, GMO’s, processed foods, all forms of simple sugar are detrimental to the health of everyone. I am a member of the ANH but I’m insulted to here the negative comments about RD’s. First anyone can, and do, call themselves “nutritionist”, and subsequently give medical nutrition therapy to unknowledgeable consumers, this is dangerous. There are those who are very qualified in nutrition however the the are many who are not, and that is dangerous. So called exploiters of the public who develo[p fad diets which eliminate who macronutrient groups call themselves “nutritionist” but there are misleading the public for there oun profit (see atkins, paleo, etc.). A naturopathic physician is qualified, however, they shouldnt be downgrading the knowledge of Dietitians. In any case I am positive I would rival any Naturopathic pysician in holistic and nutritional knowledge. My point is while the ADA is just another corporate slob, RD’s shouldn’t be held to the fire, we are not all the same, and not all of us have been corrupted by the ADA.
Yeah, and while we’re at it, let’s let everyone who wants to be a doctor but doesn’t want to be bothered getting any formal training call themselves “Health & Medical Therapists” and allow them to operate on people and diagnose cancer! I will never understand how the field of nutrition developed such blurry lines as a profession in the eyes of Americans.
If you want to be a pscyhologist, you go to school for psychology, and you have to complete a supervised internship/practicum. If you want to be a doctor…same thing. If you want to be a physical therapist, or a social worker….ditto.
Why is it you guys think the field of nutrition should be exempt from these standards? It’s YOUR field, take it seriously! You down play the seriousness and importance of dietetics as a health profession by trying to tear down set standards of quality in practice. I don’t see anyone running around crying that the AMA or the APA are monopolizing anybody because of their requirements for practicing psychologists and MD’s.
And by the way…ADA has changed to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Try to keep current. And it’s dietiTian with a “t” not a “c”.
By the way, the AMA and the APA are also monopolies/trade organizations – just like the ADA.
These 3 organizations have done untold damage to the health and longevity of Americans for almost as many generations as they have been in existence. Wake up and smell the Nutrasweet, folks. These are organizations much more interested in protecting their ‘turf’ and their incomes and life-styles, than our health.
This is not to deny that there may be many registered nutritionists who actually give useful and health-promoting advise to their patients/clients. But to do so, they must “buck the system”, by teaching principles and practices that directly oppose the ‘facts’ they were given in their professional training.
And by the way, to address Lisa Birr: get your facts straight. Dietitians also complete 4 years of nutrition education BEFORE a 10 month internship, and most of us get their Masters while doing the internship! And it’s NOT in the same place. I am in the middle of mine right now, and I will be going to 4 different facilities. Know what your talking about please.
Oh yeah, the certified one I went to said I need more carbohydrates in my diet and I’m diabetic!
Ricardo36…Just read, decipher, devour and educate yourself about the Kreb cycle and Oxidation Phosphorylation and gather a serious CLUE!!!
Mona,
I’m sure you meant to say “oxidative phosphorylation”, … but, would you please explain how more carbs will help a diabetic… using your example of the Kreb’s cycle and oxidative phosphorylation (understanding, of course, that the end result of oxidative phosphorylation is acetylCoA, which then enters the Kreb’s cycle. Yes, carbs go through glycolysis, yielding pyruvate, which also converts to acetyl CoA to enter the Kreb’s… but please explain how a low or no-refined carb diet, where carbs are obtained through vegetables, not sugar or white flour, will somehow inhibit oxidative phosphorylation. I’m not ridiculing here, although I completely disagree with what I know the ADA promotes as “healthy” dietary choices for diabetics. I have heard people say just what you said (only without the obnoxious “get a clue”-style comments) but have not yet found someone who can back it up with biochemistry.
Very interested to hear your response.
Michelle, I understand your feelings. You spent your time, effort and money to get an education in nutrition and you want respect for that. Unfortunately, that respect must be earned by each individual not as a group, just as teachers must earn theirs. Some are good, some not, although all may have similar educational backgrounds. Teachers have succeeded in obtaining pretty much a monopoly for their profession, to the detriment of education in this country. The number of years of education are not what makes a good nutritionist, but rather the quality of that education. Doctors also have many years of education but their knowledge of nutrition leaves a lot to be desired in most cases. Unfortunately, that is true also of Nutritionists who think they can legally force their acceptance by the public. Won’t happen. It isn’t your fault that big business has infiltrated the schools and your field and you have been taught mostly garbage. The schools for teachers have failed also by throwing out phonics for reading and other similar things. Not the teachers’ faults. But all must be open minded and always reading and eager for learning more. That’s the main problem with most college educated people – they seem to believe that what they were taught is “right” and nothing else. So doctors think drugs are good and food additives are “dangerous” and the body cannot heal itself. Teachers think phonics are “unnecessary”. And some nutritionists think you should add white bread to your diet. Doctors and teachers have their monopolies but no more respect than if they didn’t. We hope to keep the nutritionists from making criminals of people who very well may know a lot more than they do about how to help the body be or get healthy through diet. We hope to retain the freedom to make our own choices about whom we consult in that regard. I for one am fed up with the government “protecting” me. They don’t protect me from GMO’s or dangerous chemical additives or hormones or animals turned cannibals, what would make me think they should protect me from choosing my own diet advice?
Excellently said -Dotto & Thank you.
Just to let you know this Bill (HB 4045) in West Virginia has been defeated
I just checked
http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_pend_com.cfm?year=2012&sessiontype=RS&btype=bill&abbvar=JUD&chamvar=H
It indicates that HB4045 is still in House Judiciary.
The ADA is a greedy organization that does not care about the Health of Americans. If it did we would not have the health problems we have in America. Look at all the bad food in the grocery stores-loaded with high fructose corn syrup and other basd ingredients. ADA is basically controlled by the food manufactures. Dietitions are book learned but have no real world experience in what really is good for people. I see a lot of overweight and ill people because they listened to their dietition. I am in my 70’s and am healthy because I do not listen to the garbage information put out by these people. I am sure there are a few good people in the organization, but they don’t want to make waves to correct the socialist problem that has occurred for they will loose their jobs. Say to hell with the dietitions and the ADA and live a health life.
I happen to be one of those people who believes that the federal government is too big. I think the ADA would be a great organisation to disband, de fund and do away with. Professionals who advise others on what to eat should be loosely regulated by the state government where they practice. As this field is not “rocket science,” it is possible to be self-taught and still be highly effective. However, I would add this caveat: any professional who advises others on what to eat and also sells supplements or teaching materials from which they receive direct or indirect profits should be regulated separately as this presents a clear conflict of interest.
Saying that your own field is “not rocket science” shows not only how little you actually know about nutrition, but how little you value your own profession and your own intelligence. You think you can’t kill a person with renal disease by telling them the wrong thing to eat? You can, which is why you couldn’t get hired in a hospital unless you are an RD. And once again, no one had anything to say about the same key points that I keep making on this web site over and over and over…which shows me how narrow minded you all are. You ignore blatent facts and just continue to re-hash the same paranoid, baseless theroies again and again. I don’t know why I keep coming back, I must be a masochist! 🙂
Please answer these 3 simple questions as a complete test of whether the AMA, ADA & their “corporate friends” & trickle-down regulatory orgs Do OR DON’T have the American peoples’ nutritive health interests in mind:
1.
If you’ve ever been in a hospital, were you EVER fed nutritious, health-invigorating foods that were not completely worthless, tasteless, bleached & pureed CR#P?
2.
If not, did you ever wonder if this was an elitist exercise to PROVE that Nutrition Doesn’t Matter because the unaffordable bureaucratic slash & burn & radiate & medicate approach “should cure all”?
3. Do you get the feeling nutritionists, with all their training, might have to succeed in treating their patients DESPITE the corporate brain-washing they’ve been given (along with the useful data) instead of BECAUSE of it??
Thought so. Thank you for participating in this test of the mindless mindset of Mainstream American Medicine!
And Good Health to all.
It has been my experience that the main reason hospital food is not “nutritious, health-invigorating” is because most nutrition departments are reimbursed a very small amount for the meals they actually provide pts (to the tune of about $1.50-2.00 in most cases) and it just is not feasible to buy all the freshest and organic foods you would like to see. Each department is like a small business with its own budget. You either meet your budget or you don’t. Do you have any experience running such a large department? If not, you should try and you would quickly come to realize why some decisions are made…
I have run very large departments, and in fact I was in charge of improving them. The problem is not the budget, though we all seem to always want more money, it is the inability to optimize the buying process and staff resources. A little imaginative use of spices also goes a long way.
In fact, the excuse that there are departments is to pass the buck. A department head has peers with which to network and superiors with whom to communicate . What is needed is suggestions to pass along that will be for the good of the patients. There are even volunteer groups that work for free at hospitals.
Take a page out of Japan’s book and cultivate something edible. My local hospital has a groundskeeper budget that pays for flowers, lawn mowing, tree trimming and weed control. Volunteers can be found that will grow a garden, or at least a spice and herb patch. Many herbs (like mint) will grow like a weed.
While optimal choice might indicate organic, there are regular fruits and vegetables that are certainly better fare than what is now offered as a meal. Fruit and vegetables in a supermarket are expensive, but “blemished” produce at wholesale is not, especially in season.
Scott, question #1. Tasteless in reference to herbs and salt? What do you suggest if a pt is hospitalized for the 5th times with HTN, CVD, CAD, DM, very poor appetite and Dysphagia? A delicious cup of supplements with 2 gms of sodium and yes a fruit/veggie smoothy with lots of potassium! As for pureed meals…if that patient is having difficulty of swallowing, I guess we should give them a powdered form of supplements with 2 gms of sodium. Oh wait…I have to counsel with the SLP for the eval before I add your powdered cup of supplements.
Scott, we have two different scope of practice! Here’s an idea why can’t we get together and sponsor an entirely different bill for your scope of practice and these entire conversation and the needless rhetoric can cease!
Let’s work together to sponsor a new bill for your PASSION!
The ADA is exercising their rights and we should exercise ours too. The winner of this battle will be the side who cares more. In the bigger picture both sides want us to be healthy but this fight is not. Sometimes change can lead to friction, I hope in the end we all win and become healthy.
You should check out what happened in Florida in 1990 when legislation was passed that only Registered Dietitians could provide nutrition counseling for money (other than Health Clubs, Weight Reduction Co., etc.,) Those that were then providing Nutrition Counseling, that were not RD’s were forced to fill out affidavits to remain in business as LNC’s (Licensed Nutrition Counselors) but the doors were shut for any other nutritional activity, other than getting your degree as an RD. The now defunct Florida Nutrition Counselor’s Assoc. fought them nail and tooth, with no prevail. Their pockets were deeper than theirs. They lost the ability to have new Nutrition Counselors become licensed if they were not RD’s. The relatively low numbers of Nutrition Counselors in Florida were harassed, fined and made to give up their licenses for providing services “out of the scope” of the RD’s institutional training. This was a travesty and a disservice to the public, as RD’s then were not able to perform the services these other alternative nutritionists were providing to the public, not to say anything about the loss of income and lifestyle these Nutritionists faced when this occurred. Even today LNC’s still have to meet CEU’s that are approved by the old ADA (now the Academy of Nutrition and Dietitics) They are really considered “dinosaurs”, a dying breed. I am not surprised the new ADA is trying to meddle once more into making the RD’s the only game in every town. That was behind their name change, so to try to monopolize the business of nutrition. The problem with that is that they serve the “powers of being”, pharmaceutical companies, GMO Companies and every other powerful corporation that may not necessarily have the general public’s first in their mission statements. I think in the last 25 years since this happened, some RD’s have come up in their knowledge and are now providing better services to the public other than those in institutions but still there were a lot of lives that were wrecked by this kind of monopoly. There is no reason for this, as many institutions, other than the ADA, can certify that a person providing nutrition is duly equipped to do so. I am not for quackery or disservice to the public but believe limiting nutritional services to RD’s is unfair to those that would not dream of becoming an RD and taking their training in order to become a Nutritionist. There are other educational programs, Bachelor’s and…