Dietitian Counselling Practices, and Food Behaviour Changes in the First Three Months of a Primary Care Intervention for Metabolic Syndrome

Abstract

Approximately one in five Canadian adults have metabolic syndrome. The Canadian Health Advanced by Nutrition and Graded Exercise (CHANGE) Study was a one-year demonstration project aimed at producing lifestyle changes to reduce metabolic syndrome prevalence. The goal of this thesis was to examine to results from the first three months of the CHANGE study to explore the dietitian’s counselling practices and the dietary changes made by the participants. The results indicate that dietitians most frequently counseled on balanced meals and increasing fruits and vegetables, and the most commonly used behavior change techniques were goal setting and review of goals. The greatest dietary changes were seen in participants with poor diet at baseline; however dietitians did not change their counselling strategies based on patients’ initial diet or medical risk. Overall more research is needed to explore the relationship between dietitian’s counselling and food behavior change.