The Lebanese Order of Dietitians (LOD) is advancing ethical practice, strengthening professional capacity, and standardizing internships through national initiatives, continuing education, and regulatory reforms, empowering dietitians and enhancing the quality of nutrition care across Lebanon.
INTRODUCTION
Established under Law No. 284 in April 2022, the Lebanese Order of Dietitians (LOD) is the sole regulatory body for the dietetics profession in Lebanon. All licensed dietitians are required to register with the Order to practice legally. LOD’s mission is to uphold professional standards, promote evidence-based practice, and lead national efforts to advance the field across clinical, community, and food service settings.
As of 2025, LOD has 871 registered dietitians, a significant increase from 178 in 2022. Since its establishment, the LOD has accomplished key milestones for the profession, focusing advancing ethical practice, strengthening dietitians’ professional capacity and standardizing dietetic internships.
ADVANCING ETHICAL PRACTICE
The LOD has been actively working on incorporating ethical practice guidelines into the profession by engaging both dietitians and academic institutions in upholding these standards. A key initiative includes the development of a standardized, culturally specific professional oath to be endorsed by all practicing dietitians in Lebanon. This oath will be formally disseminated to all universities and incorporated into graduation ceremonies to reinforce professional commitment from the outset of practice. Most importantly, the LOD has developed regulatory guidelines for dietitians operating private clinics to ensure ethical, evidence-based practice and address professional misconduct. These guidelines have been submitted to the Ministry of Public Health for formal endorsement. Additionally, the order has issued formal communication to all Lebanese universities, emphasizing the requirement that didactic practical labs be taught by practicing licensed dietitians holding at least a master’s degree to ensure high-quality, practice-informed education.
STRENGTHENING PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY AMONG DIETITIANS
The LOD acknowledges the importance of continuing education for dietitians. Since its establishment, the Order has engaged in multiple initiatives to ensure and support the capacity building of practicing dietitians in Lebanon. The order started with a cross-sectional needs assessment in 2024, whereby the LOD Academic Committee conducted a national survey with 261 licensed dietitians to identify continuing education gaps in clinical nutrition, food service management, public health, and emerging practice areas. Building on these findings, the order established a continuing professional education (CPE) framework that grants providers of continuing professional education pre-approved credits.
Since the implementation of this framework, the LOD has reviewed, approved, and granted Continuing Professional Education Units (CPEUs) to 30 educational activities offered by Lebanese universities, national conferences, and reputable regional institutions using rigorous, standardized criteria. These offerings are directly aligned with the identified professional development needs.
STANDARDIZING DIETETIC INTERNSHIP
The LOD has identified dietetic internship programs as a key milestone in shaping the professional performance of current and future practicing dietitians. Accordingly, the order is leading the development of a set of national internship standards. These include clearly defined core competencies, required supervised practice hours, and rotation-specific duties across clinical, community, and food service settings.
The initiative seeks to harmonize training across academic institutions and benchmark against international standards. In parallel, the LOD is implementing a national capacity-building program to certify practicing dietitians as qualified preceptors. This initiative is being developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
Source: https://iuns.org/2025/07/empowering-nut ... ietitians/
