Medical schools need to devote more time to teaching future doctors about nutrition, New Zealand researchers say, after their review suggested gaps in the curriculum.

Researchers analysed data from 24 studies that focused on medical students’ nutrition knowledge and confidence in their ability to counsel patients on diet.

Overall, nutrition was insufficiently incorporated into medical education regardless of country, setting or year of education, the review team wrote in Lancet Planetary Health.

The analysis examined studies of nutrition training in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.