Ethical issues of nutrition and hydration include decision-making by individuals and their healthcare team about the delivery of nutrients through probes, both enterally and parenterally. The aim is to offer this method of nutrient administration only if this is acceptable to the individual at their request. As far as nutrition and related disciplines are concerned, ethical considerations associated with research are often complicated by factors ranging from the use of holistic experimental research designs to the inseparable links between nutritional research and marketing. Constant vigilance is therefore required to assess and deal with obvious conflicts
of interest.
In addition, there are only a few scientific disciplines that, such as nutrition, are defined by cultural, religious or political codifications. Accordingly, examples of historical, cultural and political events are described that have influenced ethical approaches in connection with nutrition research. In addition, nutritional research issues are often multi-faceted and require dealing with complex variables. In this context, ethical principles and perspectives relevant to data collection, publication and translation of nutrition research, and marketing of nutritional products and concepts are emphasized
.
The division of the articles into the main areas of nutrition in the area of public health was a first step towards the graphical presentation of the data (Fig. The next phase included an additional “graphical presentation” of the key points, particularly in the area of ethics (Fig. In this area, the principles of charity, non-malice, autonomy and justice are most commonly used. These principles are general concepts that can be applied to more specific ethical issues, depending on the circumstances and contexts in which these issues may arise, or depending on the perspective from which they
are analysed become.
The benefits include considerations of the cost-effectiveness and usefulness of interventions and the social impact of these interventions on populations and individuals. Similarly, the term nonmalice includes considerations of potential physical harm as well as social risks. An ethical issue such as empowerment, for example, can be linked to both charity and autonomy. Another example of stigma has ethical dimensions related to both non-malice and the principle of justice
(see legend of fig.
The ethical issues associated with the challenges of implementing and evaluating nutrition policies and public health interventions are presented in Tables 2 and 3. The limited integration of ethics into diet-related health policies and interventions is a major problem for those tasked with implementing them. The authors were asked to review the literature on ethical issues in nutrition-related public health activities for ethical guidelines that should be prepared by the WHO Department of Nutrition for Health and Development. The aim of this review is to delineate and “map” the range of ethical issues in diet-related public health interventions and the range of different areas in which they may arise. As a result, while general ethical frameworks or recommendations derived from such considerations are certainly useful in drawing attention to these issues, they cannot be expected to provide policy makers, implementers, and other public health workers with sufficient practical ethical guidance on how to achieve such goals in complex environments and specific public health dietary measures
.
Therefore, it is a relevant example that can be used to develop and adapt frameworks for other diet-related public health interventions. It is often claimed that in the face of significant public health issues, “it is better to do something than to do nothing” (p.). It should be noted that searching in articles with specific words is subject to restrictions, as articles can actually cover similar topics without using those specific terms. But regardless of whether monitoring and evaluation is classified as research, there is an urgent need for ethical standards in practice
.
Most challenges are related to the complexity of the contexts in which the implementation of food policies is expected (in particular the question of how specific local conditions and the perspectives and interests of various actors can be taken into account). Table 1 summarizes the frequency with which specific ethical issues in each area of public health in the area of nutrition are discussed. A majority of these articles address or address food security (see Ethical Issues in Food Security section below). The aim of this inventory is to delineate and “represent the range of ethical issues in diet-related public health measures and the range of different areas in which they can arise
“.
References:
- Health and Food Ethics | Journal of Ethics | American Medical Association
- https://www.jneb.org/article/S0022-3182(12)81237-4/fulltext