Nutrition management of type 2 diabetes by primary care physicians: reported use and barriers.

A survey was mailed to a probability sample of primary care physicians in Indiana to assess their use of and barriers to nutritional therapy for patients with type 2 diabetes. Most (62%) primary care physicians reported referring their type 2 diabetes patients for nutrition counseling, while 38% reported providing counseling themselves. Patient-centered barriers were most frequently cited as reasons for poor effectiveness of nutrition therapy. This differs from previous research that cites system-level factors as barriers.