Nutrition services in the primary healthcare system: a scoping review of global experiences

Primary healthcare is one of the most important components of the health system worldwide, facilitating people's access to essential healthcare, especially vulnerable groups. Integrating nutrition services into a primary healthcare (PHC) network is critical for effective health promotion. We investigated nutrition services provided through PHC in high-income and low- and middle-income countries. In this scoping review, we examined 37 studies that involved nutrition care at PHC, indexed by PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Sid. Nutritional services provided at the PHC level mainly included nutritional assessment, nutrition counseling and education, child and maternal nutritional care, provided by healthcare workers, nurses, physicians, and dietitians. Nutrition services provided by health systems varied by the degree of diet- and nutrition-related problems, such as diabetes and obesity, as well as maternal and newborn health, and the level of income and development of the countries.