Hilda Hernández-López, Universidad de la Cañada, Instituto de Farmacobiología, Teotitlán de Flores Magón, Oaxaca, México
Emmanuel Correa-Solís, Clínica de Inmunocompromiso por Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias Ismael Cosío Villegas, Ciudad de México, México
This article proposes that nutrition professionals carry out a certain kind of prescription that, by its characteristics, objectives, and ethical dimension, is analogous to drug prescription. This prescription is nutritional in nature and, in practice, is aimed at nutritional care by recommending dietary guidelines, physical activity, supplementation, and nutritional support, whether for therapeutic or preventive purposes. As a clinical activity, it is subject to ethical questions and dilemmas that can be addressed based on well-known bioethical principles. However, there are issues that ask for further ethical analysis.
Keywords: Prescription. Nutritional prescription. Bioethics. Nutrition.