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WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Trump administration's Make America Healthy Again agenda marked another milestone this week at an event spotlighting a renewed effort to make nutrition a core element of the nation's medical training curriculum. The initiative, which launched earlier this year, will give medical professionals a more complete understanding of the role nutrition plays in disease prevention and health outcomes. The University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences is participating in the initiative.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in coordination with the U.S. Department of Education, launched reforms aimed at integrating comprehensive nutrition education across every stage of medical training. The effort is designed to hold institutions accountable and better equip future physicians to prevent chronic disease rather than simply treat it. Despite longstanding research showing nutrition is a cornerstone of disease prevention, most medical students graduate with little formal training in nutrition counseling.

Today, U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) attended an event hosted by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Education Secretary Linda McMahon recognizing institutions leading the charge and building momentum behind the reforms.

"For decades, chronic diseases have placed this enormous burden on families and our entire health care system," said Cramer. "And despite the strong correlation with an individual's diet, most physicians receive little or really no training for the most part on nutrition while they're in medical school. This education gap undermines our ability to address preventable illnesses. The Make America Healthy Again movement really is holding institutions accountable and affirming a simple truth that food is foundational to health. I commend Secretary Kennedy and Secretary McMahon for their work in advancing nutrition education in medical training to improve health care outcomes and to reduce preventable disease for all Americans with a focus on health before illness."

Click here to download and watch Cramer's statement

Secretary Kennedy said the transformative breakthrough in medical education will reshape the way the United States trains doctors and deliver on President Trump's promise to end the chronic disease epidemic in America.

"Chronic disease is bankrupting our health system, and poor nutrition sits at the center of that crisis," said Secretary Kennedy. "Today medical schools are committing to change how America trains its doctors - by putting nutrition back where it belongs: at the heart of patient care."

North Dakota has already aligned with the initiative. The state's application for the Rural Health Transformation Fund included nutrition-focused reforms, such as legislation adding nutrition education to physicians' continuing education requirements. Lawmakers also directed $85 million toward the "Make North Dakota Healthy Again" effort through the Eat Well ND and ND Moves Together initiatives, which promote evidence-based nutrition and physical activity practices.

Click here to watch the full event