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In Person of interest, we talk to the people who are catching our attention right now about what they do, eat, read, and love. Next is the dietitian Vanessa Rissetto, Acting Director of NYU’s Dietetics Internship Program and Co-Founder of Culina Health.
The world of nutrition is divided. But the word “divide” doesn’t even accurately present it, making it appear divided in the middle. It’s not. About 12.9% of dietitians are people of color, and that is preventing a whole area from progressing. This is preventing an entire area of medicine from helping those who need their care the most.
New Jersey dietitian Vanessa Rissetto sees it for what it is: ingrained structural racism. When I’ve spoken to Vanessa a few times about entering the industry, and where she is now, she starts speaking fast, dropping all the F-bombs and naming names. She comes alive and ends up being exasperated. She is hilarious, warm and she will only tell you the truth. As one of the few black dietitians in the country, she carries an undue burden to bring about change in the industry. She is doing it. But she has a few things to say, so I’ll let Vanessa take it from here. –Alex begs, senior editor
My favorite breakfast kid was a toasted English muffin with Cheez Whiz. In college, I went through a six pack of Pepsi every three days. So much of Sbarro. I am now the Acting Director of the Dietetics Internship Program at New York University.
When I was a student in NYU’s nutrition program, my class consisted of rich, skinny white women. Years later, not much has changed: 81% of dietitians are Caucasian. This creates an imbalanced system that lacks cultural competence. Black people feel that our food is bad and unhealthy, and that working with a dietitian means cutting it out altogether. Every day, as these dietitians mourn the diet culture and post expensive collagen powders on Instagram, black people are dying because of structural racism in healthcare.
As I watch the protests across the world against the devaluation of black lives, it seems to me that this is not just true for the justice system; this is true for all of our systems. Black households are 2.5 times more likely to be food insecure than white households. If you are food insecure and I tout organic fruits and vegetables as the only way forward, you might resign yourself to believing that health is just not achievable for you. Black people have higher rates of obesity, heart disease and cancer, not because of their skin color, but because they are consistently undertreated and 1.5 times less likely to have a Health Insurance. This is the real reason why they are considered “prone to chronic disease”. But health care operates as if race itself is a biological factor.
I advise a couple, Harold and Jess, who are black. Harold is diabetic and worked with a white doctor for four years without success. They told me that they looked for me to be seen and heard. I worked on a nutrition plan with them, and after a few weeks Harold had regained control of his blood sugar and lost 20 pounds. Jess lost 10 by association. It should make us all sad that they need a black practitioner to get this basic level of support.
To diversify the field, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics must limit the barriers to entry. The Academy’s new rules will require that in order to take the Registered Dietitian Examination you will need to have completed your Masters – two more years of school (while nurses only need an associate’s degree). Then you must do an unpaid internship for one year while paying $ 103,000 in tuition. So far, the academy has had little engagement when it comes to discussing how to break down these barriers.
I became a dietitian because I was inspired by the one who saw me as an individual. She listened to my story and made no assumptions based on my race. I am doing the same for my patients, but we need more. We must make nutrition education accessible to all. We need to produce more than two out of 100 eligible black dietitians. We need health care that listens to black people when they need our help.
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