“Detoxify or Die”: Qualitative Assessments of Ontario Nutritionists’ and Dietitians’ Blog Posts Related to Detoxification Diets

Publication: Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
7 February 2019

Abstract

While the title Registered Dietitian (RD) is regulated under provincial legislation in Ontario and other Canadian provinces, the title “nutritionist” is not regulated in Ontario, which poses potential risks to consumers who place misguided trust in those proclaiming to be nutrition experts. This is concerning as nutrition is a complex health care discipline and RDs, the recognized providers of credible nutrition information, must be registered with an accredited regulatory college that requires them to have undergone rigorous training, practicum placements, entrance examinations, and continuous professional development. The purpose of this study was to determine if Ontario-based unregulated nutritionists and RDs are providing safe, evidence-based, information regarding detoxification diets. Content from 10 blog posts were qualitatively analyzed using deductive content analysis with predetermined categorization matrices. The results revealed that Ontario nutritionists promoted detox diets and provided unproven, misleading, and potentially harmful information, whereas Ontario RDs did not promote detox diets and provided evidence-based, harm-reducing information. Additionally, conflicts of interest arose only in nutritionists’ blog posts. RDs provided credible references for their information while nutritionists did not. Protecting the term “nutritionist” for use exclusively by RDs under provincial legislation would be a positive step towards ensuring Ontarians are receiving the highest quality evidence-based nutrition information.

Résumé

Bien que le titre de diététiste (Dt.P.) soit réglementé par la législation provinciale de l’Ontario et des autres provinces canadiennes, celui le titre de « nutritionniste » n’est pas réglementé en Ontario, ce qui pose des risques possibles pour les consommateurs qui font confiance à tort à ceux qui prétendent être des experts en nutrition. Cette situation est préoccupante, car la nutrition est une discipline complexe des soins de santé et les Dt.P., les prestataires reconnus d’information nutritionnelle crédible, doivent être agréés auprès d’un ordre professionnel qui exige d’avoir suivi une formation rigoureuse, effectué des stages, passé des examens d’entrée et de s’adonner à des activités de développement professionnel en continu. Le but de cette étude était de déterminer si les Dt.P. et les nutritionnistes non réglementés de l’Ontario fournissent des renseignements sûrs et fondés sur des données probantes concernant les régimes de désintoxication. Le contenu de 10 billets de blogue a fait l’objet d’une analyse qualitative déductive à l’aide de matrices de catégorisation prédéterminées. Les résultats ont révélé que les nutritionnistes de l’Ontario faisaient la promotion de régimes de désintoxication et fournissaient des renseignements non fondés, trompeurs et potentiellement nocifs. Les Dt.P. de l’Ontario, quant à eux, ne faisaient pas la promotion de ces régimes et fournissaient des renseignements fondés sur des données probantes qui visaient à réduire les risques. De plus, les conflits d’intérêts n’ont surgi que dans les billets de blogues des nutritionnistes. L’information fournie par les Dt.P. était étayée par des références crédibles, alors que ce n’était pas le cas pour les nutritionnistes. La protection du terme « nutritionniste » à l’usage exclusif des Dt.P. en vertu de la législation provinciale serait un pas dans la bonne direction pour s’assurer que la population de l’Ontario reçoit de l’information nutritionnelle fondée sur des données probantes de la plus haute qualité.

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Financial support: No sources of financial support were used.
Conflicts of interest: The last author is the chair of the Professional Titles for Dietitians in Ontario Advocacy Group. Four authors are Ontario Registered Dietitians and 1 author was a dietetic intern when the study was being conducted, and is now a Registered Dietitian in Ontario.

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Published In

cover image Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
Volume 80Number 3September 2019
Pages: 116 - 121

History

Version of record online: 7 February 2019

Authors

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Jill Toth BSc, RD
School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Brescia University College, Western University, London, ON
Colleen O’connor PhD, RD
School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Brescia University College, Western University, London, ON
Brenda Hartman PhD, RD
School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Brescia University College, Western University, London, ON
Paula Dworatzek PhD, RD
School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Brescia University College, Western University, London, ON
Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health, Western University, London, ON
Justine Horne MScFN, RD, PhD (Candidate)
School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Brescia University College, Western University, London, ON
School of Health Studies, Western University, London, ON
East Elgin Family Health Team, Aylmer, ON

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