Role of the Dietitian in the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Multidisciplinary Team

In recent years, nutrition and dietetics have evolved from playing a supporting role in inflammatory bowel disease care to becoming an integral part of the treatment approach. Nutrition and dietary treatments address malnutrition, which is known to be highly prevalent in inflammatory bowel disease patients, reduce active inflammation, provide symptom relief, and enhance quality of life. Patients believe that nutrition-based strategies are an important part of their disease management but generally have difficulty accessing specialist nutrition advice. Best practice inflammatory bowel disease management guidelines recommend coordinated multidisciplinary care models, but many multidisciplinary teams do not currently include dietitians. Research has shown that inflammatory bowel disease multidisciplinary teams that do include dietitians have improved patient disease outcomes and cost efficiencies. As the only health professional with extensive training in medical nutrition therapy and dietary counseling, dietitians are the most appropriate health professional to carry out detailed nutritional assessments and advise patients on individualized diet and nutrition treatments for inflammatory bowel disease. The growing emphasis on dietary therapy in inflammatory bowel disease and the complexity of evidence-based dietary recommendations highlight the need for dietitians to be an integral part of the multidisciplinary team caring for inflammatory bowel disease patients.