Nutrition and health policy

Nutrition policy involves consideration of health on a broad basis taking into account the entire social, political, and economic fabric of the community, the availability of solid scientific evidence, and the need for modification as conditions change and new information is obtained. The National Nutritional Consortium of 1980 arrived at a consensus that the development of nutrition policies should be evolutionary and be based on new scientific information and clinical experience. Nutrition and health policy have occupied the attention of scientists, economists, planners, statesmen, and politicians for a considerable period of time. This chapter presents a case study of the scientific and policy considerations surrounding the formulation of the dietary goals for the United States is equally instructive. The basis for dietary goals for the population is predicated on the fact that half the population is at risk of death from heart disease and has one or more risk factors.