Have you ever visited with a dietitian? While most of us commonly see physicians, visits with a dietitian are much less common but may be very important for long term health. The information below is provided to let you know what to expect if you see a dietitian for nutrition concerns.
A dietitian is trained to translate the science of nutrition into information that anyone can use to make healthy food choices. People visit dietitians to gain knowledge and ideas to help them to make informed food and lifestyle choices to promote health or manage disease.
To see a dietitian at NAU, you can call the Fronske Health Center (928-523-6867) and schedule an appointment with Jo Cahill, M.S., R.D., the campus dietitian. You won’t have to bring anything, but if there are specific concerns that need to be addressed, it is often helpful to write out questions and also bring labels of any supplements that you might be taking.
The first session is spent gathering information. You provide your specific questions and concerns and Jo further interviews with you to get a clearer picture of individual dietary needs or health concerns. The information that may be needed includes a medical history, dieting history, and weight history. Any problems that may affect intake are addressed.
Next, day to day diet patterns, food preferences and exercise habits will be discussed. Other important information will include use of medications and/or supplements. Once the background information is gathered, diet quality and nutritional concerns can be better assessed.
Finally, Jo and student will work together to develop an eating plan that meets the student’s goals and nutritional needs. It’s important that the student provide as much input into the food planning as possible so that a pattern that best suits individual needs can be developed. In some cases, highly structured plans may be desirable, and in other cases, much broader guidelines are used.
The amount of time spent with the dietitian will depend on the complexity of the nutritional concerns. Sometimes, one meeting may be adequate to address all of the issues. Generally, at least 2-4 visits are needed for most diet interventions. Regular meetings are often very helpful in determining both self motivators for the individual and diet plans that fit best with a student’s changing lifestyle and preferences. Revising long term diet habits often takes a lot of fine tuning and individual introspection. It can be helpful to see a dietitian on a weekly or twice monthly basis to deal with issues as they arise and thus better sustain long term changes.
