Registered dietitian nutritionist, Lucille Beseler, president and owner of the Family Nutrition Center of South Florida, has been elected by members of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics as the Academy's 2014-2015 president-elect. The Academy is the world's largest organisation of food and nutrition professionals.
A leader in the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics for many years, Beseler is a past chair of the Academy's Political Action Committee and a member of its Childhood Obesity Coalition. She served for 9 years as chair of the Florida Dietetics Nutrition Practice Council – the state licensing board for dietitians and nutritionists – and received a public service award from the Florida Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics for her work in unlicensed activity.
As a past president of the Florida Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Beseler received the organisation's Outstanding Dietitian of the Year Award in 2007 and 2010. She served on the South Florida Health Care working group, appointed by US Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.
Beseler established the Family Nutrition Center of South Florida in 1991, as one of the first nutrition practices pioneering HMO coverage of nutrition services dedicated to pediatrics. FNC has developed into a comprehensive practice providing a variety of services in multiple locations, employing registered dietitian nutritionists who provide services to all age groups and many corporations.
Beseler created two subsidiaries of Family Nutrition Center to focus on wellness and nutrition reimbursement: Family Nutrition Communications, a wellness and events staffing company creating unique nutrition screening programmes utilising registered dietitian nutritionists at more than 300 high-profile events including golf tournaments, tennis opens, street festivals and home and garden shows; and Bill it! MNT, a billing and practice management company created specifically to perform insurance billing for RDNs.
In 2009, Beseler opened a non-profit foundation to reach children and families who have been denied access to nutrition services, and is a consultant at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital. Beseler is a professional speaker and author of Nurturing with Nutrition: The Essential Guide for Feeding Infants and Toddlers, as well as many articles and publications. She received Florida International University's 2009 Paths of Public Health Award in Nutrition and Dietetics for community work in the area of childhood obesity.