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Why Tufts signed on to RFK Jr.'s nutrition push for medical schools

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It's Friday. Less than 300 days after his devastating Achilles injury, Celtics star Jayson Tatum could make his return tonight at TD Garden. For the first time this season, Tatum is listed as "questionable" on the injury report for the Celtics' home game against the Dallas Mavericks. And ESPN reports he's expected to play.

Now, to the news:

*Food for thought: *More than 50 medical schools are signing on to a new federal nutrition training commitment for future doctors, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced yesterday. The list does not include many of what are generally considered the nation's highest-ranking medical schools (no Harvard, no Johns Hopkins, no Duke). But there is one Massachusetts college on the list: Tufts. WBUR's Amy Sokolow spoke to Helen Boucher, the dean of Tufts' School of Medicine, about why the institution decided to embrace the plan.

• The backdrop: While Kennedy's vaccine skepticismhas drawn themost scrutiny,he has madethe American diethis primary focus lately. (It'sreportedlynot a coincidence that the midterms are coming.) However,some expertshave argued for decades that medical schools should incorporate nutrition more into their curriculum. In a press release, federal health and education officialspointedto surveys showing that three-fourths of U.S. medical schools do not require clinical courses on the subject and that medical students reported getting only about an hour of formal nutrition education per year. - What is the commitment about, exactly? The new frameworkcalls on medical schools to provide at least 40 hours of nutrition education to students, starting this fall. It doesn't prescribe any specific content. (No mention ofmeat, dairyorDunkin'.) "Use whatever you want, teach whatever you want, but you need to teach nutrition," Kennedysaid during a rally in Texas last week, previewing yesterday's announcement. - Why is Tufts embracing it? Tufts has something of a rep when it comes to nutrition. It's the only university in the country with a standalone graduate school of nutrition. And its medical school in Boston is already doing more than what Kennedy is calling for. Boucher said students in the MD program already get "over 40 hours" of nutrition education and "many receive many more than that." The courses range from introductory classes to specific subjects on things like eating disorders, popular diets and supplements — all with a focus on "evidence-based data," Boucher said. "This is something that's been in the DNA of Tufts University School of Medicine, literally for over a hundred years," she said.
• What's so controversial about it? The framework, however "voluntary," comes as the Trump administration exerts immense legal and financial pressureon colleges and universities to influence what they teach. The New York Timesreported earlier this weekthat Kennedy had previously hinted at withholding federal funding to get medical schools to add more nutrition courses, before switching to more of a carrot approach. Boucher said Tufts first got involved via "informal conversations dating back a few months" through an alum who works at the Health and Human Services Department. She declined to weigh in on how Tufts would react if Kennedy started enacting stricter criteria for schools.

Meanwhile in Cambridge: Harvard's Kennedy School said yesterday that it will allow newly admitted military members to defer their admission for up to four years — or seek expedited admission at a handful of other public policy graduate schools. Leaders say the move is intended to give military members flexibility, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently announced that the Pentagon is cutting ties with Kennedy School. WBUR's Suevon Lee has more details here.

*Heads up: *The sloppy weather is causing school delays across Massachusetts this morning. According to WCVB, there are over 100 two-hour delays today, including in Worcester, Lowell, Lawrence and many other communities — mainly in the northern and western parts of the state. Fitchburg, Maynard and Gloucester are even canceling classes for the entire day. (The good news: after today, a big warmup is coming our way.)

*On the Cape: *The Coast Guard said it has recovered one person and is searching for another after a fishing boat capsized yesterday off of Provincetown. The boat, named the Yankee Rose, is the same one on which two crew members passed out from carbon monoxide exposure last week.

In Foxborough: Do we have a deal? Nope. Despite a new pledge by the Kraft Group to cover Foxborough's security costs for World Cup games at Gillette Stadium this summer, town officials told The Boston Globe last night that it still falls short of their demands.

P.S. — Why did the New England Revolution postpone their 2026 home opener this weekend? Take our Boston News Quiz and test your knowledge of our recent stories.