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Diseases Linked Strongly to Diet and Lack of Exercise
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Food is fundamental to life and health. The major
product from agricultural production is food for human consumption. A viable
agricultural enterprise demands that producers target consumers' needs for
desirable, safe, and nutritious foods. Consumers have grown more demanding in
their desire for foods that improve health and the quality of life, improve
physical performance, reduce risks of chronic diseases, and increase the life
span. This trend is likely to increase. The United States enjoys the preeminent
role as food provider to the world. Research on human nutritional needs must
continue in concert with research that increases agricultural production and
improves product quality.
Human nutrition science has taken a major step forward from a focus on the
prevention of nutrient deficiencies to an emphasis on health-maintenance and
reduced risks of chronic diseases. Scientific research has
demonstrated that what and how much we eat profoundly affects growth,
development, and aging, and the ability to enjoy life to its fullest. Dietary
intake and lack of exercise is linked to risks for development of a variety of
common, chronic diseases that are disabling and life threatening. Among
those diseases linked strongly to diet, the cost for medical treatment and care
exceeds $200 billion per year. The annual economic impact of cardiovascular
disease in the U.S. exceeds $80 billion, that of obesity exceeds $86 billion,
osteoporosis $10 billion for care alone, cancer $104 billion, and cataract
surgery $4 billion. The American Cancer Society estimated in 1996 that one-third
of the 500,000 cancer deaths annually in the U.S. are due to a variety of
dietary factors.
The staggering cost of nutrition-related diseases clearly points out the
need to develop effective strategies, based on the results of sound human
nutrition research, to lower the cost of health care by prevention of diseases.
The success of nutrition research in the last 30 years to reduce the incidence
and severity of cardiovascular and digestive disease, and also some forms of
cancer is a clear indication that alterations in diet and lifestyle have
beneficial effects both through reduced morbidity and mortality and a
concomitant reduction in the cost of health care. In spite of our ability to
reduce health care costs through dietary interventions, our national investment
in human nutrition research has not kept pace with the need for this research.
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) research can be used to promote health
through programs that emphasize foods for well-being, and reduce the need for
medical care. ARS research can be used to establish healthful intakes of
specific nutrients and to develop strategies for intervention into the diets for
targeted populations. By defining interventions for reducing disease risks,
health care costs can be substantially reduced.
Changing population dynamics, life style habits, food technologies, animal
and crop production capabilities, biotechnology, and the globalization of the
market for foods, all demand revisions in thinking about how to target food
production, processing, and intervention strategies to assure optimization of
health through nutrition. New approaches to elucidate the fundamental
inter-relationships between diet, genetics, and health, and applying and
validating strategies to stimulate healthy food, nutrition, and lifestyle
behaviors must be a part of nutrition programs today. ARS has an integrated and
multidisciplinary human nutrition program to address these issues.
Despite recent advances in nutrition research, much is yet to be
determined. New and powerful techniques in molecular biology have recently been
introduced in nutrition research. These should be used to identify those
individuals at greatest risk for nutritionally related diseases, and
nutrient-gene interactions. A continuing need is to expand our understanding of
the roles nutrients play in maintaining health and to identify those components
in foods that are most beneficial. Determining what factors mediate food
choices, how eating behavior affects food intake, and what intervention
strategies can be used to change those behaviors are also critical research
needs.
Using more modern methods in research, it is obvious that requirements for
various nutrients clearly change throughout the life cycle and under different
physiological states, such as pregnancy and lactation. Diets early in life may
affect our requirements for nutrients or increase the risk for disease later in
life. Scientific evidence has shown that the long term health consequences
during adult life are determined to some extent by nutritional events during
critical periods of child development. Proper food choices must be made to enjoy
good health throughout life.
The strong connection between human nutrition research and the food and
agricultural sciences can only be developed as a national effort. ARS is an
ideal location for human nutrition research because of the proximity to research
on basic agriculture. ARS has major research programs in animal, plant, soil and
post harvest sciences that can directly respond to knowledge of nutritional
concerns by modifying the food composition, expanding food choices, and
providing more options for selection of healthful diets by at risk populations.
If nutritionists are to be successful in providing sound dietary advice and
affecting the health of the population, it is essential that the research
activities take place in an environment where there is continuous dialog and
collaboration between the Human Nutrition National Program and programs in
plant, animal and the other agricultural sciences. As nutritional needs are
identified, continual efforts will be made to distribute the information that
consumers need to make wise choices. Unlike the Department of Health and Human
Services and in particular the National Institutes of Health whose research is
oriented toward causes and treatment of disease, ARS human nutrition research is
targeted towards health, quality of life, prevention of chronic disease and
promotion of a nutritious supply of food
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