The Global Member Interest Group (GMIG) is a community of members focused on improving the nutritional status in regions with high burdens of malnutrition or with nutritional crises due to conflict or natural disasters, through the sharing of information, resources, and ideas among Academy members, students, governmental and non-profit aid organizations, and health workers within these countries.
GMIG raises the profile of international malnutrition within the Academy while developing the capacity of Academy members with shared ideas, resource tools, research, experiences and strategies on the prevention and management of malnutrition in vulnerable people in developing regions whose nutritional status is still highly intertwined with issues of poverty, sanitation, unclean water, agriculture, literacy, and cultural norms and whose financial and professional resources are limited.
Collaboration with IAAND
The GMIG and the International Affiliate of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (IAAND) share the goal of helping dietitians to be involved and competent in the international arena. Whereas the IAAND consists of dietitians from multiple countries and, for many, replaces a state affiliation, the GMIG is a member interest group for dietitians based in the US or elsewhere who have their own state or national association. The GMIG is designed for dietitians focusing on low to mid resource countries or regions and has a strong humanitarian component, with emphasis on empowering locals (community health care workers, struggling health clinics, etc.) in grassroots nutrition care. IAAND supports professional development and collaboration for dietitians in many other issues in countries of all economic levels. These two groups are not mutually exclusive and will partner to promote their mutual interest in culturally appropriate and nutritionally sound interventions and may work on joint projects to reach their overarching goals.