Evaluating the Public Relationships of Registered Dietitians with Government, Food Industry, and Universities Regarding Knowledge Transfer
Publication: Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
14 April 2025
Abstract
Purpose: The nutritional quality of the food supply is influenced by actions from the government, the food industry, and universities. Considering the potential of registered dietitians (RDs) to transfer nutrition knowledge, this study aimed to assess the positivity of the relationships between RDs and these actors to improve knowledge transfer initiatives for the benefit of food nutritional quality.
Methods: Using a descriptive and correlation research design, 68 RDs, members of the Ordre des diététistes-nutritionnistes du Québec (dietitians in the Province of Québec, Canada), evaluated their relationships with the government, the food industry, and universities in a web-based survey.
Results: Overall, RDs rated their relationships with universities more positively than with government or industry, which were similarly rated (p < 0.001). More specifically, RDs working in clinical nutrition rated all dimensions of their relationships with the actors in general less favourably than RDs in other sectors (p < 0.05).
Conclusions: To support the successful transfer of knowledge regarding the nutritional quality of foods, these findings suggest that RDs should be encouraged to attempt to develop more positive relationships with government and industry, while maintaining their positive relationships with universities. Future research could further examine the clinical RD subgroup as well as the reasons for these results by conducting in-depth interviews or group discussions.
Résumé
Objectif. La qualité nutritionnelle de l’offre alimentaire est influencée par les actions du gouvernement, de l’industrie alimentaire et des universités. À la lumière de la capacité des diététistes de transférer des connaissances sur la nutrition, cette étude visait à évaluer la positivité des relations entre les diététistes et ces acteurs afin d’améliorer les initiatives de transfert de connaissances et de favoriser ainsi la qualité nutritionnelle des aliments.
Méthodes. À l’aide d’un modèle de recherche descriptif et corrélatif, 68 diététistes membres de l’Ordre des diététistes-nutritionnistes du Québec (diététistes de la province de Québec, Canada) ont évalué leurs relations avec le gouvernement, l’industrie alimentaire et les universités dans le cadre d’un sondage en ligne.
Résultats. Dans l’ensemble, les diététistes ont évalué leurs relations avec les universités de manière plus positive qu’avec le gouvernement ou l’industrie, ces derniers ayant reçu une évaluation similaire (p < 0,001). Plus précisément, les diététistes travaillant dans le domaine de la nutrition clinique ont évalué toutes les dimensions de leurs relations avec les acteurs en général moins favorablement que les diététistes d’autres secteurs (p < 0,05).
Conclusions. Ces résultats suggèrent que, pour favoriser le succès du transfert des connaissances sur la qualité nutritionnelle des aliments, les diététistes devraient être encouragés à essayer de développer des relations plus positives avec le gouvernement et l’industrie, tout en maintenant leurs relations positives avec les universités. Des recherches futures pourraient examiner plus en détail le sous-groupe de diététistes cliniques ainsi que les raisons de ces résultats en menant des entretiens approfondis ou des discussions de groupe.
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Financial support: The research team received funding from the Centre Nutrition, Santé, Société (NUTRISS) and Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS).
Conflicts of interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
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Editor: Naomi Cahill
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Marie Le Bouthillier PhD Candidate, RD, Sophie Veilleux PhD, Sophie Desroches PhD, RD, and Véronique Provencher PhD, RD. Evaluating the Public Relationships of Registered Dietitians with Government, Food Industry, and Universities Regarding Knowledge Transfer. Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research.
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https://doi.org/10.3148/cjdpr-2025-004
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