Gold Coast researchers say too few general practitioners are advising patients about diet and nutrition.
The Griffith University team has invited doctors across Australia to complete a survey on the subject.
Dr Lauren Ball said most of the population visited a GP each year and two-thirds of the consultations concerned chronic diseases like obesity, type two diabetes and cholesterol but patients received little in the way of nutritional advice.
She said her team was trying to develop interventions that could address that situation.
“That could be some continuing education that’s tailored to what GPs say they need more information on or it could be a broader intervention that looks at the other health professionals that we are collecting data from and information from patients themselves in terms of what they would like their GP to be doing to support them to be eating healthier,” she said.
She said the survey was designed to assess GPs’ confidence, knowledge and skills in the area.
“GPs have reported to us in the past that they don’t feel comfortable raising the topic or they may not know the exact words to use or they may fear that the patients may get offended, particularly on the topic of weight management, or they feel it may not be a priority for the actual consultation that they are having,” she said.