Personal bias in nutrition advice: A survey of healthcare professionals’ recommendations regarding dairy and plant-based dairy alternatives

ABSTRACT Objective To examine the relationship between health professionals’ personal dietary preferences and their professional nutrition advice on dairy and plant-based dairy alternatives. Design Cross sectional web-based survey. Survey examined health professionals’ personal dietary preferences, including milk preference, (plant-based or dairy milk), dietary pattern (vegetarian or omnivore), and if they followed a “plant-based” diet, and examined if they would advise patients to consume dairy and/or plant-based dairy alternatives. Logistic regression models examined if health professionals’ personal dietary preferences were associated with their willingness to recommend either product. Setting Sample of U.S. health professionals. Participants Non-probability convenience sampling recruited registered dietitian nutritionists, physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, dentists, dental hygienists, and students in any of these degree programs holding Junior standing and above. 331 respondents completed relevant survey questions and were included in analyses. Results Most respondents would recommend dairy (81%) and dairy alternatives (72%) to their patients. Half (49%) reported a preference for plant-based milk, about 40% identified as having a dietary pattern that reduces animal product intake, and about 40% reported following a plant-based dietary pattern. Plant-based milk preference (OR 4.52; 95% CI 2.31 to 8.82, p <0.001) and following a vegetarian dietary pattern (OR 1.91; 95% CI 1.11 to 3.27, p =0.019) were associated with greater odds of recommending dairy alternatives to a patient. Plant-based milk preference (OR 0.16; 95% CI 0.07 to 0.35, p <0.001), following a vegetarian dietary pattern (OR 0.45; 95% CI 0.25 to 0.82, p =0.009), and following a plant-based dietary pattern (OR 0.41; 95% CI 0.22 to 0.76, p =0.005) were associated with lessor odds of recommending dairy to a patient. Dietetics professionals were more likely than all other health professionals to recommend both dairy and dairy alternatives to patients. Conclusions Healthcare professionals’ nutrition recommendations appear to reflect their personal nutrition habits, despite dairy being an important source of essential nutrients for patients who are willing and able to consume it. Improved nutrition training focusing on evidence-based nutrition recommendations, reducing personal bias in practice, and routinely including registered dietitians on interprofessional healthcare teams may improve the quality of nutrition advice given to U.S. consumers.