Challenges faced by dietitians working in various cities of Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Dietitians are trained professionals who play a crucial role in providing personalized food and nutrition guidance for people in different health conditions. They are invaluable members of society, as they have a significant impact on individuals' wellbeing and, ultimately, the health of entire communities within a country. Primary Study Objective: This paper investigates the challenges faced by dietitians in various cities of Pakistan. Methods/Design: It is a cross-sectional study conducted by Nutrition
Foundation of Pakistan (NFP). Setting & Participants: This study is based on the survey data obtained from students and graduates of the Human Nutrition and Dietetics program from different cities of Pakistan via an online questionnaire including questions about demographic variables and 10 items that inquired about perceived challenges faced by dietitians. The data was analyzed by SPSS 20 and presented as frequency and percentages for demographic variables and mean score with standard deviations (SD) for different variables of a 10-item questionnaire for perceived challenges by dietitians. Statistical significance was determined at the 0.05 level. Results: Results indicate that the province of Sindh (mainly Karachi city) has the highest number of respondents, succeeded by Punjab (mainly Lahore city). Severity scores for perceived challenges faced by Dietitians indicated that the primary challenge is the low salary that is specially faced by dietitians from Karachi and the least scored challenge is unavailability of resources for continuing nutrition education which is mostly faced by dietitians from Peshawar. Comparison of perceived challenges among Dietitians in the Dietetic role, non-dietetic role, not working and students’ revealed difference in scores among these groups based on their job, experiences and perceptions. Conclusion: The findings of this study clearly highlighted the challenges and issues faced by Pakistani dietitians. The main challenges turned out to be low salary, undefined promotion criteria and lack of opportunities. These investigations can lead to the development of polices for dietitians to promote their career
development and lessen the burden of nutrition related diseases in the country.