Access To Healthcare Counseling In Jeopardy
New Jersey Legislators Consider Restrictive Legislation to Limit Nutritional Advice
Contact: Gretchen DuBeau, 800-230-2762
For Immediate Release: September 24, 2008
Today, the American Association for Health Freedom (AAFH) urged New Jersey legislators to vote against Assembly Bill A2933/Senate Bill S1941, the Dietician/Nutrition Licensing Act currently under consideration by New Jersey State Senators and Members of the Assembly.
The companion bills would prevent any practitioner other than a dietitian registered by the American Dietetics Association from teaching, consulting, or advising about health, nutrition, supplements, diet, food, or food materials.
The vote, scheduled for early October in both the Senate and the General Assembly, would give unprecedented authority to registered dieticians. Traditional experts on healthcare, including Ph.D. nutritionists from Rutgers University’s prestigious Department of Nutritional Sciences, would be barred from offering nutritional advice in New Jersey.
“Nutritionists and doctors holding the American College of Nutrition’s CBNS certificate have a Master’s degree at a minimum, usually a Ph.D., yet are excluded by this bill. In comparison, most dieticians registered by the American Dietetics Association, the sponsor of this bill, do not hold advanced degrees. Their training is mostly in food management and only partly in nutrition. This makes no sense,” said American Association for Health Freedom’s Executive Director, Gretchen DuBeau.
AAHF highlighted research from Harvard’s Department of Nutrition published in the October 2001 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine which documented that 90% of all type II diabetes can be eliminated by avoiding bad fats and eating good fats, eating lots of fruits and vegetables and modest amounts of whole grains, supplementing wisely, and exercising daily.
“It is vital with a record 78% of our nation’s healthcare dollars going to the treatment of chronic disease that other qualified practitioners be allowed to offer nutritional counseling. Chronic conditions are directly related to lifestyle choices, and nutritional counseling is a critical part of patient care by any practitioner,” added DuBeau.
If you would like more information, please contact
Gretchen DuBeau at 1-800-230-2762.
