The [Brief] History of the RDN

Happy (late) National RDN Day to my RDN’s and fellow RD2B’s! National RDN day was on March 9^th where of course we celebrate all the amazing and cool things we do every day! We of course have seen, done, or heard of all the things we do, but how did the term Registered Dietitian and Registered Dietitian Nutritionist come to be? Today, I give you a brief history of us!

source: eatrightpro.org

First, we go back to Ancient Greece; back to the times of Homer, Plato, and Hippocrates where mentions of diaeta (“meaning mode of life”) are being sprinkled into many early writings such as those from Hippocrates, Plato, and Galen (Hwalla & Koleilat, 2004; Todhunter, 1973). Maybe the most noteworthy of the writings is from the Father of Medicine himself, Hippocrates’, in his quote, “Let thy food be thy medicine, thy medicine be thy food” where he emphasizes the connection of our diet and our health (Hwalla & Koleilat, 2004; Todhunter, 1973). Sound familiar? You’ve probably seen some sort of cutesy poster or something from HomeGoods or Etsy or somewhere like that with this quote. Just me? Okay.

The Middle Ages the diet of the general population looked like beer, mutton, porridge, cheese, etc. (Hwalla & Koleilat, 2004; Todhunter, 1973). So, basically the things we think of when we think of food from the Middle Ages. Hospitals’ diets mainly contained bread, but later we saw different diet types emerge (Hwalla & Koleilat, 2004; Pereira, 1868). “Four different kinds of diet existed at the time; the common diet, the broth diet, the thin or fever diet, and the milk diet,” says Hwalla & Koleilat (2004). These were the beginnings of what branched into therapeutic diets in the early 20^th century (Hwalla & Koleilat, 2004; Todhunter, 1973). 

Let’s fast forward to 1917 Cleveland, Ohio. A meeting conceptualizes the American Dietetic Association later to become The Academy (EatRightPro, 2022). Our first leaders were two women by the name of Lenna F. Cooper and the ADA’s first president, Lulu C. Graves whose mission was “to help the government conserve food and improve the public’s health and nutrition during World War I” (EatRightPro, 2022). 

Now, as a dietetic intern myself, I wondered what life as a “dietetics student” (as we would be called in the 1940s) would be like. So, like the “pro-researcher” (take it with a grain of salt) I am, I researched it. Dietetics grows tremendously as “Johns Hopkins Hospital was among the first to offer an approved training course in dietetics (in 1914) [likely the equivalent or close to our current dietetic internship] and to recognize the dietitian’s role in the national hospital system” (Stein, 2014; American Food Journal, 1922). The original 1926 ‘junior’ Academy membership is made specifically for “student dietitians” [our intern ancestors] (Stein, 2014; Cassell, 1990). Program growth had skyrocketed post-World War I as we began to focus on the newly formed RDAs, which were only for “protein, iron, calcium, vitamins A and D, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and ascorbic acid…” (Stein, 2014; Welsh, Davis, & Shaw, 1993; National Research Council, 1989). Gosh, remembering nine RDAs sounds a lot less daunting than all the RDAs we have to remember now, am I right?!

Today as we know it the dietetics profession continues to grow and gain recognition in all sorts of professional spaces and otherwise. We’ve even gone onto TikTok to tell the world the real facts of nutrition! Before I go on and on and on, here’s to many more years of National RDN Day, and most importantly, to us! *Cheers*

SK

References:

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, wd. (n.d.). Academy History. EatRightPro. Retrieved March 13, 2022, from https://www.eatrightpro.org/about-us/academy-vision-and-mission/academy-history 

Hwalla, N., & Koleilat, M. (2004). Dietetic Practice: The Past, Present and Future. East Mediterranean Health Journal, 10(6), 716–730. Retrieved March 13, 2022, from https://applications.emro.who.int/emhj/1006/10_6_2004_716_730.pdf. 

Todhunter E. N. (1973). Some aspects of the history of dietetics. World review of nutrition and dietetics, 18, 1–46. https://doi.org/10.1159/000394226

            Pereira, J. A. (1868). A Treatise on Food and Diet. Wells Publishing Co. (New York).

Stein, K. (2014). History Snapshot: Dietetics Student Experience in the 1940s. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 114(10), 1648–1662. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2014.08.001 

         American Food Journal. (1922). The American Food Journal. Google Books (Vol. 17). American Food Journal. Retrieved March 13, 2022, from https://books.google.com/books?id=YxLnAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA9-PA17&lpg=RA9-PA17&dq=johns+hopkins+academic+dietetics+pioneer&source=bl&ots=7Cq9IjxWuq&sig=HjkSLTEKqvB4d0Aq4GoUT5lUMo4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=QfvDU_DHNJKiyAStnIDQBQ#v=onepage&q=johns%2520hopkins%2520academic%2520dietetics%2520pioneer&f=false. 

Cassell, J. A. (1990). Carry the flame: The history of the American Dietetic Association. The Association.

Welsh, S. O., Davis, C., & Shaw, A. (1993). USDA's food guide: background and development. Miscellaneous publication (USA).

National Research Council. (1989). Recommended dietary allowances.

 

Photo Citation:

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. (2022). Happy National RDN Day. EatRightPro. photograph, eatrightpro.com; Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Retrieved March 13, 2022, from https://www.eatright.org/food/resources/national-nutrition-month/registered-dietitian-nutritionist-day.