HHS and the Education Department announced increased nutrition requirements in education, testing, training and residency.
Here is what to know.
1. Eight of the nation’s leading accreditors, assessors and organizations have committed to increase nutritional education, including the National Board of Medical Examiners, the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners, the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation, the American Board of Medical Specialties, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine.
2. Over the last 10 months, these organizations have reviewed standards, revised requirements, built consensus and created significant reform, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., said in a June 8 HHS press conference. The National Board of Medical Examiners and the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners have committed to increasing the presence of nutrition-based questions in examinations with approximately 15% of content assessing nutrition and its clinical application using evidence-based standards.
3. Nineteen more medical schools have signed the Trump administration’s Nutrition Education Pledge to incorporate 40 hours of nutrition education or its competency equivalent into graduation requirements starting this fall. This brings the total up to 73 medical schools. These schools will receive federal funding to support their work, and will have full control over the curriculum, Mr. Kennedy said. Schools that do not meet the 40-hour benchmark will not be penalized, he said.
4. HHS is also launching a nutrition education integration challenge for medical and nursing schools, after which the winning curriculum will become publicly available.
“The lack of nutrition training in medical schools is a decades-old problem, first identified by the American Medical Association in the 1960s. Successive administrations have recognized it. The Trump administration finally did something about it,” Mr. Kennedy said. “We are training future physicians to address the root causes of disease — not simply manage their consequences. We are building a medical system that gives physicians better tools, patients better information and families a better chance to live long and healthy lives.”
5. Medical students reported receiving an average of just 1.2 hours of formal nutrition education each year, a 2022 Journal of Wellness survey found. About three-fourths of U.S. medical schools did not require clinical nutrition courses, and only 14% of residency programs required a nutrition curriculum.
6. In a fact sheet, HHS said it developed 71 core nutrition competencies as a resource for schools that choose a competency-based approach to implementing nutrition training. The competencies were informed by a 2024 JAMA consensus statement and are intended as guidance for schools, not a mandate or directive on medical school curricula, according to HHS officials.
7. This year, HHS is also asking hospitals to serve healthier food and align their menus with new federal nutrition guidelines. However, rising food prices could force some hospitals into financial trade-offs. A hallmark of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement is an emphasis on protein, dairy, healthy fats, fruits and vegetables. Many of those food groups are rising in price: Between April 2025 and April 2026, the FAO found a 6.4% increase in meat prices — a record high. Vegetable oil is at its highest level since July 2022.
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