Dr Srinivas of NITI Aayog has drawn attention to the increasing relevance of nutrition and lifestyle factors in today’s healthcare system and the need to make these components an integral part of clinical education and healthcare practice. At the National Symposium of AIIMS, Dr Srinivas called for the focus to be put on the idea of “Food Is Medicine” implying that nutrition should become the key component of disease prevention and treatment.
While talking at the national symposium, Dr Srinivas stressed the necessity of the transition from the treatment-oriented healthcare paradigm to the prevention-centered one. He noted that people’s lifestyles and nutrition awareness have a great effect on the increasing burden of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and obesity.
According to Dr Srinivas, it is important to include nutrition and lifestyle medicine into the core competencies of the healthcare workforce. He believes that healthcare professionals should be trained to give patients advice on how to eat properly, prevent health risks, and change their lifestyle in addition to giving them conventional medical treatment.
The AIIMS National Symposium saw participation of healthcare experts, medical practitioners, researchers and policy makers to discuss the growing role of nutrition in delivering healthcare. The symposium aimed at reinforcing the connection between the fields of medical sciences and nutrition based interventions.
According to Dr Srinivas, change in lifestyle trends in India is calling for more awareness in terms of balanced diet, physical activity and preventive healthcare. He stressed on the need for empowering the people with knowledge about nutrition to prevent the occurrence of chronic ailments and live healthier lives.
Nutrition strategies backed by evidence and role of the healthcare establishments in making healthier communities was another theme of discussion among the experts at the symposium. Integration of nutrition education in the curricula of medical professionals could play an important part in addressing the health problems of the people.
Nutrition-led healthcare is very much in line with the global trend of preventive medicine in which lifestyle changes are considered very important for maintaining good health.
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