Sharing Singapore's experience in dietetic practice and school nutrition programmes

Dietetic practice in Singapore is mainly applied at the clinical settings, such as hospitals. The main scope of practice is in providing medical nutrition therapy to patients in a multidisciplinary team approach at both inpatient and outpatient clinics. This is delivered in the form of nutrition counseling and nutrition support. Dietitians are also involved in other areas such as conducting nutrition workshops and talks and provide consultation to the hospital's food service department. They set dietary guidelines for inpatient meal services and equip the food service personnel with the knowledge to plan and prepare healthier menus and therapeutic diets. In the schools, all the students are taught the basic principles of nutrition in the school curriculum. Healthy eating messages are reinforced through various interesting activities in schools. Nutrition guidelines on creating healthy and nutritious menus in the school tuckshops are available for schools to implement the Model School Tuckshop Programme. This programme is aimed at cultivating healthy eating habits among school children. For overweight students, they are referred to the students health centre for medical screening, assessment and for regular nutrition counseling at the Nutrition Clinic.