IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 784 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States 
recognizes the mounting personal and financial burden of diet-related 
disease in the United States and calls on medical schools, graduate 
medical education programs, and other health professional training pro-
grams to provide meaningful physician and health professional education 
on nutrition and diet. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 9, 2021 
Mr. MCGOVERN (for himself and Mr. BURGESS) submitted the following reso-
lution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 
and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the United States recognizes the mounting personal and 
financial burden of diet-related disease in the United 
States and calls on medical schools, graduate medical 
education programs, and other health professional train-
ing programs to provide meaningful physician and health 
professional education on nutrition and diet. 
Whereas obesity, type-2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and 
stroke are among the leading causes of death and dis-
ability nationwide and are inextricably linked to diet; 
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Whereas poor diet and nutrition have led to epidemic levels 
of obesity in America, with nearly 40 percent of adults 
currently obese and models projecting that nearly 60 per-
cent of today’s children will be obese by the age of 35; 
Whereas nearly 10 percent of Americans suffer from type-2 
diabetes and more than one-third have pre-diabetes, com-
pared with less than 1 percent just 50 years ago, and 
these conditions can be prevented or reversed by the 
adoption of a healthy diet and an active lifestyle; 
Whereas diet-related cancers are on the rise among young 
adult populations; 
Whereas increasing rates of cardiovascular disease and diet- 
related cancers are contributing to the recent declines in 
life expectancy of the United States population; 
Whereas the economic costs related to— 
(1) diagnosed diabetes exceed $300 billion per year; 
(2) obesity exceed $200 billion per year; and 
(3) cancer care exceed $180 billion per year; 
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- 
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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 40 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 
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 
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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-
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 Rep-
resentatives that the United States should— 
(1) provide Federal oversight to ensure that 
Federal funding of medical schools and graduate 
medical education programs, including funding pro-
vided through Medicare and Medicaid, goes to pro-
grams that incorporate substantive training in nutri-
tion and diet sufficient for physicians and health 
professionals to meaningfully incorporate nutrition 
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interventions and dietary referrals into medical prac-
tice; 
(2) urge that medical schools, residency and fel-
lowship programs, and other health professional 
training programs provide meaningful nutrition edu-
cation that demonstrates the connection between 
diet and disease, and develops the skills necessary to 
initiate meaningful nutrition interventions and refer-
rals; 
(3) conduct or fund research intended to— 
(A) assess the status of nutrition education 
across healthcare professionals’ training; 
(B) develop effective curricular interven-
tions to ensure competency in diet and nutrition 
for physicians and other health professionals; 
and 
(C) evaluate the impact of the education of 
health professionals on patient and population 
health; 
(4) support the development and dissemination 
of best practices and curricular resources to medical 
schools, residency and fellowship programs, and 
health professional training programs to reduce the 
burden of introducing or increasing diet and nutri-
tion education; and 
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(5) raise awareness of the critical role that diet 
and nutrition play in the health of all patients and 
the responsibility of practicing physicians, health 
professionals, and healthcare administrators to as-
sist in promoting healthy diets; to offer patient edu-
cation and counseling about diet and nutrition; and 
to make timely and appropriate referrals as nec-
essary. 
Æ 
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