Today’s Dietitian
Vol. 28 No. 2 P. 4
With March being National Nutrition Month® and National Dietitian Day landing on the second Wednesday of the month, there’s no better time to elevate, celebrate, and support the profession of dietetics and the expert RDs who breathe life into it year after year. This also presents an opportunity to capture the momentum and voices from RDs everywhere who are speaking up and calling for a change—one that the future of dietetics depends on. Our cover story, “The Fight for Fair Wages,” brings attention to what many RDs consider the “elephant in the room” in dietetics: the decades-long struggle for compensation that more accurately reflects our extensive skillset, training, and contributions. Conversations about pay inadequacies and institutional imbalances that were once confined to private chats between RDs are entering more public arenas and rising to a deafening volume that can no longer be ignored. With increasing numbers of RDs feeling defeated and reluctantly leaving (or considering leaving) the profession due to these struggles, it’s time to move this conversation from the sidelines to front-and-center.
Many dietitians hold multiple (sometimes multiple full-time) jobs and yet still struggle to make ends meet, despite being among the most highly trained and qualified allied health professionals, including the only health care providers with specialized expertise in MNT. Decades of research have substantiated the powerful impact of nutrition therapy and intervention, especially for addressing the most common chronic diseases affecting the global population. And yet, too often, dietetics fails to receive the recognition and respect it deserves, and dietitians on average are paid well below what other allied health professionals earn. A breaking point looms. Who determines our value as providers, and what can we do to come together to incite the change required to keep the profession viable?
Also in this issue, TD10 is back with our annual selection of 10 noteworthy RDs, which is always a challenge to narrow down among the many deserving submissions. Thank you to everyone who took the time to nominate a dietitian.
You’ll also find a feature story exploring updates on nutrition therapy for IBD and a delicious diversity of recipes brought forth in a collection of stories covering Iceland’s cultural food traditions, kidney stone-friendly meals, and more.
Please enjoy the issue, and to my fellow RDs, thank you for all you do!
— Heather Davis, MS, RDN, LDN, editor
TDeditor@gvpub.com