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How practice meets guidelines: Evaluation of nutrition counselling in Finnish well‐women and well‐baby clinics
Author(s) -
Huurre Anu,
Laitinen Kirsi,
Hoppu Ulla,
Isolauri Erika
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1080/08035250600660925
Subject(s) - medicine , breastfeeding , family medicine , health professionals , nursing , pediatrics , health care , economics , economic growth
Aim : To assess the current practices of nutrition counselling given by nurses in well‐women (WW) and well‐baby (WB) clinics in Finland. Design : A semi‐structured questionnaire was distributed to nurses and their clients in clinics nationwide. Main outcome measures : The source and the quality of nutrition counselling and specific conditions including allergic diseases and vitamin D supplementation. Results : The clinics constituted the most important source of information for the clients. Personal counselling was highly appreciated. However, 83% of pregnant women reported having received dietary counselling, which deviates from the figure reported by nurses (99%, p=0.0003). Counselling concerning allergies was targeted to reduce the risk of infant allergy by means of elimination diets. In contrast to the report of the nurses (60% in WW and 18% in WB clinics), only 16% (p<0.0001) of the pregnant and 7% (p=0.022) of the breastfeeding women reported that they had been advised to use vitamin D supplements during the winter season. Conclusion : This study calls for co‐operation between scientists, governmental policy makers and healthcare professionals to ensure a continuous chain of information, applicable to nutrition counselling, from scientific data to everyday practice.