Speech at the closing ceremony ofInternational Congress of Dietitians 2012 Sydney
Leadership in Dietetic Education:

Discretionary treatment and workplaceresearch capability of dietitians

Shigeru Yamamoto
Director of Asian Nutrition and Food Culture Research Center• Dietitians should not just follow the figures in the tables provided byexperts but they themselves should calculate dietary requirements. In
other words dieticians must have discretionary power.
However,
discretionary power also involves responsibility. To support thisresponsibility, education in conducting research in the work place isnecessary but this has been limited.

• Although developing countries try to follow information about nutrition andhealth from western countries, their problems are often very different.
Furthermore, developed countries themselves have major problems such as
obesity and metabolic syndrome in spite of intensive research employing
modern technologies.
•These facts show that research in applied nutrition fields is limited worldwide, especially research by dietitians. Each country must have more
applied nutrition research and to achieve this we have to re-consider
education for dietitians.

Japanese School Lunch• Finally I like to show the successful school
meal program by the various activities ofdietitian including researches.
• There are important political systems, too.

• Children have become to appreciate thefoods and the leftover foods reduced greatly.

Establishment ofNUTRITION TEACHER in schools
School Education Law
1. Each elementary school appoints principal, viceprincipal, teachers, nurse-teacher . The school
can also a nutrition-teacher.

2. Teachers provide education to children.
3. Nurse-teacher provides nursing to children.
4. Nutrition teacher participates in guidance andmanagement of school lunche.

Allocation of School Dietitians and Nutrition Teachers
NumberSchool dietitian

14,00012221

12,000

Nutrition teacher
11207

1014

10,000

3379

6830

8,000
6,000
4,000
2,00001974

2005

2007

2010

NumberNumber of nutrition teachers was 1014
(National school 37, prefecture schools 977) in 2010)

School Meal Law
From School Dietitian to Nutrition Teacher

Old definition:
School dietitian must holda dietitian license and be a specialist with
sufficient knowledge and experience inschool lunches.

New definition:
School dietitian must holda license as a Nutrition Teacher or dietitianand be a specialist with sufficient knowledge
and experience in school lunches.

Basic Law on Shokuiku
What is it? It is a Japanese NEW BASIC LAW . Shokuiku
is defined as acquisition of knowledge about food andnutrition, as well as the ability to make appropriate foodchoices through various experiences related to food, inorder to develop people’s the ability to follow a healthy
diet. In addition, the law calls for promotion ofSHOKUIKU toward a richer lifestyle based on life-longcultivation of a healthy mind in a healthy body. No one
can live without food, therefore, the targets of the Act are
not only children but citizens of all ages.
www.maff.go.jp/english_p/shokuiku.pdf

School lunch is a good tool to putclass-room knowledge into practice (shokuiku)
Knowledge
learned inclasses
Eat meal
with interest

School lunch
becomes a
topic at home,which
improvesdietary lifestyleEffective use of school lunch repeated more than 190
times a year for education
Through guidance with purpose and a plan, children acquire
practical knowledge that will reach to their families.
Nutrition teacher or school dietitian can make practicalmaterials for education. Cooking is not their main task.

Farmers are introduced in the“School Lunch Newsletter”

Strawberries from Izumida
familyEggplants from Ms Aoki

Tomatoes from Iitsuka

familyLeeks from Mr. Yasuo

I don’t like potatoes, but I will eat this potato.

A farmer is teaching the children about traditional
foods. Dietetics teacher introduces local dishes.

In 3rd grade social studies class 小学3年「社会科」のクラスで