If you want to make sure you’re eating right, that question is soonto be answered online and via phone by Ontario dietitians.
It’s a part of the government of Ontario’s Action Plan for HealthyEating and Active Living, an initiative being taken to combatobesity.
The new service will be available to answer questions on topicsincluding nutrition, healthy eating, and food allergies, said JulieRosenberg, a spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of HealthPromotion.
The service will be available to the public, as well as tophysicians and health professionals, said Rosenberg.
“It’s (the website) going to be an interactive reference sourcefor guiding nutrition related information as well as providinganswers to frequently asked questions,” she added.
She said the ministry is unsure of how interactive the websitewill be as it could be difficult for staff to answer some questionsimmediately.
“If someone has a specific question related to diabetes or hearthealth we would obviously have to be very thoughtful in theresponse.”
She said the project is to be implemented within the next sixmonths.
The British Columbia Ministry of Health already has a dietitiancall centre, Dial-A-Dietitian, which the Ontario Ministry of HealthPromotion is using as a model for this project, according toRosenberg.
B.C.’s phone-based dietitian program has been available since1972 and receives about 20,000 calls per year according to KathleenQuinn, a registered dietitian and program director ofDial-A-Dietitian.
The program has a website at www.dialadietitian.org.,yet the site does not have the function of answering diet relatedquestions online, as they want to ensure they are only serving B.C.residents.
Quinn added the program is looking into expanding the website toinclude an online answer function.
Residents of B.C. can access registered dietitians through theservice from Monday to Friday during regular business hours, andDial-A-Dietitian also has translation services available in 130different languages.
“The registered dietitians provide brief consultations forself-care providing info that one can trust…and it’s free.”