Digital Health Startup Diet ID Answers Call for Ethnically Diverse Diets in Health Promotion

January 26 2021

The importance of ethnic diversity in the representation of food and nutrition continues to gain momentum. A recent New York Times article highlights historical inattention to this matter. The article notes that ethnic diets, and diets for health promotion are rarely conjoined, with the exception of the Mediterranean diet. The Times contends that leaders in nutrition science and dietetics “ignore non-Western cuisines, or imply that they are unhealthy.” This matter becomes ever more salient and timely as social justice and equity in multicultural societies emerges as an imperative for many modern nations.

Among the challenges is an enduring, broad gap between typical representation of high quality nutrition – which reflects predominantly American-style diets long subject to scientific scrutiny – and ethnic food variation. Lack of proper representation and understanding of non-Western diets can have harmful implications and can restrict a large portion of the US population from finding nutritional guidance that resonates with personal preference and background. Ultimately, a dietary pattern can only advance health for those willing to adopt it.

Accurately capturing and assessing diverse dietary patterns, and providing highly personalized paths to objectively optimal nutrition, is the primary objective of Diet ID, a digital health company founded by Dr. David Katz. Using novel, image-based methods, the platform provides personalized nutrition assessment and coaching that already encompasses an array of ethnic diets, and can readily incorporate many more.

Diet ID’s extensive and detailed diet map visually displays and analyzes over 100 dietary patterns, with plans to incorporate Latino/Hispanic, East and Southeast Asian, Indian, and Indian Vegetarian patterns. Dr. Katz, a long-standing judge of the US News & World Report's annual Best Diets rankings, notes that “Even the 2021 Best Diets rankings are relatively inattentive to the crucial matter of ethnic diversity. Food and culture are inextricably bound, and we seek to showcase and celebrate high-quality ethnic food patterns.” In the Diet ID tool, this is achieved by stratifying all diet types using the same, objective and research-validated measure of diet quality, and then devising images that depict that specific combination of type and quality.

According to Mary Murimi, PhD, RD, LDN, Diet ID Advisor, and professor of Nutrition at Texas Tech University, “Unfortunately, the traditional dietetics approach in the US largely ignores the social determinants of health, which include cultural ties to food. As a result, many nutrition professionals recommend diets that lack diversity of rich culture and practices. We need programs and tools that help everyone – not just majority populations – work towards a diet that promotes wellness while respecting their unique customs and backgrounds.”

Diet ID addresses this matter with the help of global nutrition experts who both know, and practice, diverse, high-quality dietary patterns. Current consultants to the company include nutritionists from the Latin American Lifestyle Medicine Association (LALMA), experts in the Mexican-American diet, and experts in Indian/Southeast Asian diets popular in the U.S. The Mexican diet will allow many of the 18% of Americans who identify as Hispanic to select a diet pattern that is familiar and consistent with their way of eating, while still offering a means to improve diet quality and health.

Diet ID is committed to inclusion and cultural sensitivity around diet, health, and wellness. Chronic disease risk can be mediated via a wide variety of high-quality diet patterns and food choices. Finally, a reliable, easy-to-use digital health tool incorporates ethnic diet variants that are sorely lacking in most currently available tools. Diet ID is proud to pioneer an expansive diet map that truly respects and reflects global diversity.

Press release link: https://www.einpresswire.com/article/535092475/digital-health-startup-diet-id-answers-call-for-ethnically-diverse-diets-in-health-promotion