WASHINGTON -- A group of 53 medical schools pledged to increase the amount of time spent on medical students' nutrition education starting this fall, HHS announced Thursday. [MEDPAGE TODAY]

"I'm pleased to announce a transformative breakthrough in medical education," HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said at a press conference at the department's headquarters. "It will reshape the way that we train doctors in our country and deliver on President Trump's promise to end the chronic disease epidemic in America."

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Under the initiative, the 53 medical schools across 31 states will require 40 hours of comprehensive nutrition education or competency equivalent before graduation, he said. "More than 30,000 physicians each year will now graduate equipped with nutrition education to help prevent, treat, and reverse chronic disease."

... David Skorton, MD, president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges, praised the collaboration between the schools and HHS. "This is a great example of an area where alignment between government and academic medicine can drive real impact for patients," he said.

Bobby Mukkamala, MD, president of the American Medical Association, also praised the initiative. "For too long, nutrition has been treated as an elective in medical education -- a few hours here and there," he said. But "considering how important what we eat is for our health, it should be a basic foundational training, because it impacts every one of our patients."

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