Introduction:

the promotion of a healthy lifestyle is an imperative need to both reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases associated with lifestyle, and prevent their progression.

Objective:

to evaluate the basic knowledge about healthy eating of a cohort of graduates from medical school.

Method:

a descriptive research was conducted through a review of the inclusion of a nutrition subject matter in the curriculum of medical schools. A food knowledge questionnaire was administered to 80 physicians at the first level of care who had graduated five years before the research.

Results:

the correct answers to the questionnaire obtained on average 64.96 points out of a possible score of 113. There was a weak association between scores for “diet-disease relationship” and “source of nutrition” (p = 0.016). In the curriculum of the reviewed medical schools, biochemistry courses are privileged over nutrition courses. The nutrition courses imparted in medical schools do not have a minimum of hours, and are not structured to train health promotion capabilities. The participants had low scores in all areas.

Conclusions:

it is necessary that nutrition courses be reconfigured to face the pandemic of non-communicable diseases and their consequences both in patients and in health systems.

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