A questionnaire was mailed to a random sample of 532 members of the Alberta Chapter of the College of Family Physicians in order to assess the role of physicians in providing nutrition education to their patients. Of the 255 respondents (53% response rate), over 97% agreed that "educating patients about nutrition is an important role for physicians." Physicians most often gave nutrition information on obesity, constipation, heart disease and hypertension, alcohol, coffee, infant feeding, osteoporosis, and prenatal nutrition. Female physicians gave nutrition information significantly more often than male physicians on four maternal and child health topics. Perceived barriers to nutrition education included lack of reimbursement for physicians (86%), lack of time (48%), and limited access to patient information (42%). Most physicians often informed patients on the seven most common nutrition topics despite these concerns.
