The Department of Nutrition and Health is being tracked by international expert opinion

Ever since the Department of Nutrition and Health had decided to make the major step of taking its dietetics program up to the level of international standards and recognition, this program has been attracting much of international expert attention. In (November 2007), a team of experts from the American Dietetics Association (ADA) paid a visit to the Department and thoroughly analyzed the Department's new proposal to gain accreditation for the dietetics program through ADA's Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education (CADE). The program was granted the experts' blessings for its advanced and up-to-date content, which reflects the mission of the Department in providing high quality curricula.

Clare Curley , a freelance writer from Chicago, is another observer from outside the country who put the dietetics profession as a new challenge which both future dietitians/nutritionists and the public in the UAE will have to deal with from now on. The country is desperately in need of adequate number of qualified and well-trained, competent professionals in the field of nutrition and dietetics to fill the gap between current nutrition-related disease models prevalent in the UAE and available services.

"As with other health-care professionals in the UAE, there is a shortage of qualified dietitians to serve the growing population. However, that is something that may change" says Clare .

Read more in "ADA Times, Sept/Oct. 2008, American Dietetic Association".