This special issue showcases the fundamental importance of nutrition care and weight management in family practice. In doing so, these articles highlight numerous opportunities to improve standard care. But, it is worth recognizing the history that has led us to this place. Inadequate nutrition education during medical training is widely recognized as a fundamental problem for clinicians, especially given the centrality of diet to the management of lifestyle-related diseases. As general practice constitutes the largest group of specialist training doctors (1,2), understanding the history of nutrition in medical education is important to ensure that meaningful improvements can take place in the future. So, why has not nutrition found a more prominent position in contemporary medical education and practice?