Pediatricians play an essential role in children’s dietary education as well as their patients’ nutritional status. The purpose of this study was to examine paediatricians’ nutritional knowledge, familiarity with recommendations, and attitudes about vegetarian diets. A cross-sectional research was conducted with a previously established questionnaire, which was sent to a convenience sample of paediatricians in Israel. Scores on knowledge and attitudes regarding vegetarian diets were computed for each participant. Scores were examined and compared across several responder categorizations. A vegetarian or semi-vegetarian diet was followed by 14.1 percent of the 270 respondents. The total mean knowledge and attitude scores were 37.9 16.0 percent and 38.1 20.7 percent, respectively. When compared to nonvegetarians, doctors with a vegetarian or semi-vegetarian diet had higher mean knowledge and attitude ratings by 12.2 percent and 17.4 percent, respectively. Knowledge levels were discovered to be favourably linked with attitude levels. Only 13.4 percent of paediatricians thought that their medical education had adequately equipped them to care for vegetarian patients. Inquiring about patients’ eating habits and advising on vegetarian diets were associated with a better knowledge score.

Pediatricians have a limited understanding of vegetarian nutrition. The majority of doctors have negative opinions of vegetarian diets. Individual individuals demonstrate a favourable connection between total knowledge and overall attitude. Increasing paediatricians’ understanding of vegetarian diets may enable them to see meatless diets more positively and better counsel their patients.

Reference:https://journals.lww.com/jpgn/Fulltext/2020/07000/The_Knowledge_and_Attitudes_of_Pediatricians_in.29.aspx

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