Abstract
The role of nutritional status and dietary intake in influencing health and disease cannot be overstated, impacting at all stages of the life cycle. There is unequivocal evidence that risk of non-communicable disease, including cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the UK, are strongly associated with obesity, nutritional status and diet quality. As such, diet and lifestyle advice are important components in the management of many chronic diseases and disorders. Less well recognised is the role of protein-energy undernutrition (referred to as malnutrition herein) in negatively impacting on disease risk, progression and prognosis. As the first point of contact for most people accessing healthcare is via primary care, General Practitioners (GPs) are well positioned to identify and manage those patients who would benefit from nutritional care. This editorial will focus specifically on the ‘duel burden’ of obesity and malnutrition, although there are many other areas of health and disease in which nutrition is also fundamental.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 554-555 |
Number of pages | 2 |
Journal | British Journal of General Practice |
Volume | 64 |
Issue number | 628 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Nov 2014 |
Keywords
- obesity
- malnutrition
- General practice