•HRES 1118 EH 
Whereas the Federal Government bears much of the cost of 
diet-related diseases as reflected by increased Medicare 
spending, which in 2019, totaled $800 billion, or more 
than 15 percent of all Federal spending; 
Whereas in the next 10 years, Medicare spending is expected 
to exceed $1 trillion; 
Whereas much of this increased Medicare spending is directly 
attributed to the rise of diet-related diseases, as 5 of the 
8 most common conditions for the 60 million Medicare 
beneficiaries are diet-related, with one-third of Medicare 
spending alone devoted to diabetes-related costs; 
Whereas the Federal Government also bears a substantial 
cost for training physicians who treat patients with diet- 
related diseases, particularly through graduate medical 
education as— 
(1) Medicare dollars provide the single largest Fed-
eral direct funding source for graduate medical education 
(GME), including residency and fellowship programs, at 
an estimated $10.3 billion per year; and 
(2) the Federal Government also matches the Med-
icaid funds that more than 44 States have elected to allo-
cate to GME programs; 
Whereas GME programs receiving Federal funding do not 
consistently include substantive curricular requirements 
or performance benchmarks relevant to diet or nutrition; 
Whereas in the absence of Federal requirements, all levels of 
medical training are largely devoid of nutrition education 
for medical professionals— 
(1) at the Undergraduate Medical Education (UME) 
level, medical schools devote on average only 19 hours to
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nutrition science and diet over 4 years, or less than one 
percent of all lecture hours; 
(2) at the GME level, requirements for nutrition 
curriculum and competency are limited or absent from 
the educational standards for key medical specialties, set 
by the accrediting body, the Accreditation Council for 
Graduate Medical Education (ACGME); and 
(3) at the Continuing Medical Education (CME) 
level, no State requires physicians to take courses in nu-
trition and diet, though 37 States require training in 
other areas of medicine; 
Whereas the lack of training in nutrition has contributed to 
a measurable deficiency in health professionals’ knowl-
edge of how diet and food relates to health; for example, 
only 10 percent of surveyed cardiologists report receiving 
more than minimal education in nutrition as part of their 
training; 
Whereas medical professionals have cited the lack of nutrition 
education as a barrier to effectively counseling patients 
on diet and nutrition and knowing when to refer patients 
to nutrition professionals, and only 14 percent of sur-
veyed primary care physicians report feeling adequately 
trained to offer nutrition guidance to their patients; 
Whereas patients reasonably expect their physicians and cer-
tain health care specialists to be reliable sources of 
knowledge regarding nutrition and diet, and are unaware 
that their physicians may be ill-equipped to even begin to 
provide useful dietary advice or to make appropriate re-
ferrals to nutrition professionals; and 
Whereas there exist numerous opportunities for policy inter-
ventions to include education related to nutrition and diet 
at every level of medical training, at the direction of ac-
•HRES 1118 EH 
crediting and testing bodies, State governments, and the 
Federal Government of the United States: Now, there-
fore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Represent-
atives that the United States should— 
(1) urge that medical schools, residency and fellow-
ship programs, and other health professional training 
programs to incorporate meaningful nutrition education 
that demonstrates the connection between nutrition and 
disease, and develops the skills necessary to initiate 
meaningful nutrition interventions and referrals; 
(2) support research intended to— 
(A) assess the opportunity for nutrition edu-
cation across healthcare professionals’ training; and 
(B) develop effective curricular interventions to 
ensure competency in nutrition for physicians and 
other health professionals; 
(3) support the development and dissemination of 
best practices and curricular resources to medical 
schools, residency and fellowship programs, and health 
professional training programs to support introducing or 
expanding nutrition education; and 
(4) raise awareness of the critical role that nutrition 
plays in the health of all patients and the responsibility 
of practicing physicians, health professionals, and 
healthcare administrators to assist in promoting healthy
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choices; to offer patient education and counseling about 
nutrition. 
Attest: 
Clerk.