Eight medical organizations and 19 additional medical schools have committed to increasing nutrition education as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pushes to make diet and prevention a larger part of medical training.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Eight major medical organizations and more than a dozen medical schools have agreed to expand nutrition education for future and practicing physicians, federal officials announced June 8.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the National Board of Medical Examiners and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine were among eight accrediting, assessment and board organizations that reached an agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services to advance nutrition education reforms across medical training and professional programs.
Kennedy said the commitments are part of a broader effort to restore nutrition and prevention to a more central role in health care.
“Together these three announcements send a clear message—nutrition is returning to the center of American medicine,” Kennedy told reporters in Washington.
The announcement follows Kennedy’s March statement that 53 medical schools would require at least 40 hours of nutrition education. Officials said Monday that 19 more schools have now committed either to requiring a minimum of 40 hours of nutrition instruction or adopting a 40-hour competency equivalent.
The additional schools include Texas A&M University, the University of Maryland and the University of Massachusetts.
There are approximately 163 schools in the United States that offer doctor of medicine degrees, with about 100,000 students enrolled in those programs.
Kennedy has made nutrition education a priority, arguing that physicians need stronger training in diet, prevention and chronic disease management. Federal officials said the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education began contacting medical organizations in the fall of 2025 to request improvements in nutrition education.
Since then, officials said the agencies have held more than 100 meetings with stakeholders.
The administration has cited earlier research showing limited nutrition training in medical schools. A survey published in 2015 found that most medical schools did not provide at least 25 hours of nutrition education. Another survey released in 2023 found that medical students received an average of just 1.2 hours of nutrition education per year.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said after Kennedy’s remarks that his own medical training did not give sufficient attention to nutrition or prevention.
Oz said doctors are often trained to value only what is emphasized in medical school, leaving major gaps in how they approach diet and preventive care.
“The arrogance that’s associated with not learning about nutrition in medical school contaminates the entire medical space,” Oz said.
Kennedy said the commitments are voluntary and that the federal government is not requiring schools to adopt a specific nutrition curriculum.
The nutrition education push is part of a wider set of food and health initiatives at the Department of Health and Human Services. Other efforts have included changes to the food pyramid and national nutrition guidelines, which influence meals served in institutions such as schools and prisons.
The new commitments signal a growing effort to train doctors to address nutrition more directly with patients, particularly as diet-related chronic diseases remain a major concern across the country.
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