How to improve the impact of nutrition guidance by general physicians: Public health versus individual patient?

This paper will review the impacts that family physicians might exert over their patients' health, wellbeing and nutrition status. It commences with t he examination of some of the characteristics of public health and family m edicine as well as those of the societies in which family medicine is pract ised. This leads on to a discussion of several food, nutrition and consumer -related agendas which set the context for the work of family physicians. T hese agendas delineate the scope of family physicians' nutritional guidance . They suggest that current nutrition goals are one subset of a wider range of possibilities. Finally, several courses of action are proposed which ma y improve family physicians' impact on patients' lives.