An Indian Institute of Nutritional Sciences Initiatives
Nutritionally Healthy Indians, Achieved through the Transformative Power of Food as Medicine in Community, Clinical And Commercial Nutrition.
To become the leading Nutrition Sciences Institution in India through Innovation and Acceleration of the Education, Awareness and Improvement in Clinical Nutrition, by Promoting Positive Nutrition Practices through Research, Evidence-Based programming and Policies for Medical-Nutrition Synergy in Clinical Nutrition and Dietetic Practice.
Indian Institute of Nutritional Sciences shall:
In India, the terms dietetics and dietitian have been domesticated since the career in dietetics began with the introduction of graduate programs in home sciences.
To add to its greater degree of domesticity was the fact that the study of home science was purely a female prerogative.
The baccalaureate degree in home science was encouraged because the family felt that the girl was educated without her domesticity being adversely affected, especially in the marriage market.
The enterprising among the graduates of home science decided to convert their academic qualification into a specialization in the allied-health specialist category, and thus the profession of dietitian was generated.
Their ambit of interaction, however, was limited to the hospital kitchen, thus retaining the domestic character of the dietitian.
This identification is best described by the following phrases: glorified cook, a sedentary clerk, calculating and maintaining calories and the weight of the food or nutrient;
and maintaining and formulating unappetizing recipes for the helpless, hapless patient.
This myth needed to be exploded.
Therefore, to convert nutrition from sheer art of feeding the body at all stages of life to the science that feeds the body in health and disease, in the 1980s, a branch of study was segregated and specifically designated as “Nutrition and Dietetics”.
But the progression was arrested because the centers offering this training were the home science colleges that were exclusively for women, and they had no access to hospitals or medical universities to back their teaching and learning programs.
Although nursing and nutrition are derived from the same root word nutricus, nutrition has not received the exalted status that nursing has in the medical scenario.
Despite the added glamour and dietitians calling themselves clinical nutritionists, the work environment did not undergo any change whatsoever.
The nutrition world was changing at a pace much faster than the situation at the home front, and the access to the academic knowledge was limited.
This curtailed the advancement of the dietitian in becoming a true and strong link between the community and the clinical and commercial aspects of nutrition.
It has been realized that the clinical nutritionist is a vital link between the physician and the patient.
The clinical nutritionists or dietitians had understood that they were required to maintain data relevant to the anergic metabolic profile, play a very scientifically dynamic role at the bedside of the patient, and be an active member of the team treating the patient.
However, the lack of exposure to the hospital-based patient environment inspired no confidence in effecting the change.
The urgent need to promote medical nutrition synergism for effective patient management and dietetic practice increasingly perceived as medical schools and practitioners have moved away from nutrition/diet prescriptions.
HM Sinclair declares – Quote “Medicine arose from dietetics and Pythogoreans including Hippocrates used diet as the main line of therapy and drugs only when diet failed” - Unquote.
T he resistance to referring patient to the nutrition support team/practitioner is still the order of the day .
Theoretical prescriptions still rule the roost and without medical-nutrition synergism, evidence-based practice in nutrition will forever remain a distant illusive dream.
shall strive to improve the nation's health and advance the profession of dietetics through research, education and advocacy.
The organization shall accomplish this through many dimensions:
a job specification delineated on the premise that the knowledge of clinical nutrition must be used to:
To expand the horizon of the above IINS plans by establishing links and create the first Training Center in Nutrition Support Systems.
This collaboration shall conduct training programs for hospital teams consisting of physicians, clinical nutritionists, nurses and pharmacists.
IINS shall work towards recognition as the agency for education programs that prepare dietetics professionals, through graduate didactic, dietetic technician and supervised practice programs, and ensure that entry-level education meets quality standards.
To support and maintain highest professional practice principles and ethics IINS shall create a Commission on Dietetic Registration that would award credentials to individuals at entry and specialty levels who have met CDR's standards for competency to practice in the dietetics profession, including successful completion of its national certification examination and recertification by continuing professional education or examination.
IINS shall publish peer-reviewed periodical in the dietetics field, the monthly Journal that brings original research, critical reviews and reports and authoritative commentary and information to nutrition and dietetics professionals throughout the world.
To implement the zenith endeavors of the evolved Social Marketing model titled, “Social Marketing Concept in Nutrition Education”, to promote nutritional health awareness.
– initiate as a one-to-one interaction and as a part of dietetic counseling initially, and further expand to create nutrition diagnostics, nutrihealth promoting eateries and information center for dissemination of nutriknowledge.
It shall provide Reliable and Evidence-based Nutrition Information for the Public Through dynamic website, _______________, provide a wealth of nutrition information for consumers, featuring content ranging from articles, tips, videos, recipes and online games to app reviews.
Find an Expert feature will be created for consumers seeking the services of a registered dietitian.
Members of the media can find access to a range of resources, including press releases.
IINS would work towards creation of government affairs office, based in New Delhi, that would work with state and national legislators and agencies on public policy issues affecting consumers and the practice of dietetics, including Medicare coverage of medical nutrition therapy;
licensure of registered dietitians; child nutrition; obesity; food safety; the Dietary Guidelines for Indians; and other health and nutrition priorities.
The Indian Institute of Nutritional Sciences Trust is established as a public charity trust.
Its mission is to fund the future of dietetics through research and education.
The Trust shall achieve its goals by providing support for research, education and public awareness programs and will strive to be the largest grantor of scholarships in nutrition and dietetics.
The Indian Institute of Nutritional Sciences – IINS was trademarked in 2006 and was conducting its collaborative activities with USA, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
IINS is committed to improving the nation's health and advancing the profession of dietetics through research, education and advocacy.
An internationally known clinical nutritionist, author, educator and researcher.
She began her blazoning journey towards Clinical Nutrition when she at age of 10 years, administered Ryle’s tube feeding to her unconscious grandfather for over 4 months!
When she was denied medical college admission due to religion and caste factor prevailing in the state, her father walked the extra mile to secure the undergraduate admission to “Nutrition and Dietetics” [1st introductory batch, Madras University].
Her teachers, be at school [Best Girl Guide for TN State & represented India at Bicentenary Celebrations of USA, 1976], and college, not only indentified her but further instilled a spirit of “uncompromising perfectionism” and “leadership” that was instrumental in her being second in the history of Madras University to have obtained her PhD degree without a supervisor/guide at Madras Medical College.
The exposure to the Medical College environment was an impetus to specialize in “Clinical Nutrition” and she was first certified at Leeds University, UK;
next super specialized into “nutrition injury specialist” at USA. Established parenteral and enteral nutrition compounding units at several hospitals, conducted workshops, seminars and conferences on the subject and also is faculty and invited guest speaker at the annual conferences of all medical, surgical, pediatric and sport associations/societies/colleges in both India, as well as in Malaysia, SriLanka, and Pakistan.
“Cilag Scholarship” for Renal Nutritionist, Vienna, Austria; Prof Oreopulius “Best Paper Award” in Renal Nutrition, Canada;
Wimpfheimer-Guggenheim Fund Award for International Exchange in Nutrition, Dietetics & Management, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, USA, and Smt Malathy Endowment Award in recognition of valuable contribution to the field of Nutrition – Woman Doctors Association, Tamilnadu, are the visible milestones in this incredible journey from “nutrition & dietetics” to “clinical nutrition”.
IINS will be led by a Board of Directors .
IINS will encourage membership from registered dietitians, students, educators, researchers, retired and international members.
Its membership should represent a wide range of practice areas and interests.
Affiliate, dietetics practice, and member interest groups share the common purpose of serving the profession, the public, and members in such areas as continuing professional education, public information on nutrition and health, government advocacy and relations, membership recruitment, Academy leadership, and public relations.
These membership groups shall reflect the many characteristics of the IINS membership and the public it serves.
IINS aspires to acquire and establish a building of its own.
The following activities have been envisaged and initiated at this juncture
| # | Description of Action | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Registration of IINS Trust | Completed |
| 2 | IINS – GOI Trademark Registration | Completed |
| 3 | Bank A/c | Completed |
| 4 | Obtain PAN Card | Due |
| 5 | Collaboration with USA for Initiation of Certificate program | Completed |
| 6 | Infrastructure for implementation of certificate program | Due |
| 7 | Website Registration | Completed |
| 8 | Website Contents | Due |
| 9 | Financial Requirements Estimate | Completed |
| 10 | Funds Mobilization | Due |
An Indian Institute of Nutritional Sciences Initiatives