Introduction

An adequate state of health is related to optimal nutrition. There is growing evidence that indicates that plant-based diets such as vegetarian, properly planned, can be complete and provide an optimal amount of calories and nutrients to maintain and improve health and nutritional status. Health professionals and especially dietician nutritionists should guide patients who want to have an adequate vegetarian diet. The aim was to evaluate the attitudes and knowledge of doctors, nutritionists, nurses and nursing assistants from a region of Colombia, in relation to vegetarian diets.

Material and Methods

Descriptive cross-sectional study, through the application of an anonymous and voluntary survey. The survey asked about the professional’s willingness with regard to vegetarian diets and the knowledge they had of those diets.

Results

Most professionals (61.7%) are willing to support a vegetarian diet and 34% would recommend it. Nevertheless, only 18.9% consider it appropriate for any age group. Few professionals consider this diet useful to prevent diseases. It was also evidenced that 55.3% stated that there are few possibilities in the environment to carry this type of diet, which highlights a lack of knowledge or information.

Conclusions

Unfavorable attitudes and gaps in knowledge are evident among health professionals on the subject of vegetarian nutrition.

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