Editor’s Spot: TD Turns 25
By Judith Riddle
Today’s Dietitian
Vol. 26 No. 1 P. 4

Today’s Dietitian (TD) has reached another huge milestone! In May, we celebrated 10 years of providing symposia to nutrition professionals from across the country and abroad when we kicked off our 10th annual Spring Symposium in Savannah, Georgia. This month, we celebrate 25 years of publishing TD, well known as the quintessential independent voice for dietitians.

For the past several years, dietitians have seen many exciting developments and trends emerge in telehealth services, cultural competency, plant-based eating, sustainability, diabetes management, CVD, digestive health, weight management, social media, and more. TD has covered these topics, bringing you the latest updates in research, food trends, and treatment and management of chronic disease.

For example, the unforeseen COVID-19 pandemic, which upended the lives of dietitians both professionally and personally and that of their clients and patients, provided a greater opportunity for many to offer telehealth counseling services to keep their practices afloat, while those working in clinical care had to shift gears and get creative to produce revenue streams in their specialty. TD published several articles on how the pandemic impacted dietetics and how diet and nutrition played a role in boosting immunity to either help prevent or lessen the severity of COVID-19.

For the past five years, more dietitians and organizations have been working hard to boost the numbers of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color entering the dietetics profession. There’s more of a focus on cultural competency, cultural humility, and cultural foodways. Plant-based eating has become more popular and an integral part of treatment plans to help prevent, manage, and slow the progression of chronic disease. And the emphasis on plant-based whole foods with smaller carbon footprints has been deemed imperative to promote human and planetary health.

TD has covered all of these hot topics, including the shift from dieting and deprivation for weight loss to nondiet approaches to health that include intuitive eating, mindful eating, and body positivity.

Research on the microbiome and how it interacts with various aspects of health marches on, and TD will continue to bring you the latest developments. Other growing trends include food as medicine and culinary medicine, which are increasingly being taught in medical schools and used to treat various health conditions.

There have been many technological advances in diabetes management that have come to the fore, such as technology-enabled continuous glucose monitoring and insulin delivery systems that work seamlessly with mobile applications. And the use of artificial intelligence is growing exponentially in health care and soon may be used in MNT to improve patient outcomes.

Read more about these and other hot buttons that have impacted dietetics over the years in “Celebrating 25 Years!” on page 18. Afterward, turn to other articles in this issue on metabolic and bariatric surgery, vertical farming, and postworkout recovery.

Please enjoy the issue!

— Judith Riddle, Editor

TDeditor@gvpub.com