New National Strategy Shows Improvement in Government Recognition of Nutrition’s Role in Public Health

Last month, I mentioned the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health that took place for the first time in past fifty years. The conference was held on September 28, 2022, in Washington, DC and livestreamed for anyone and everyone.

At the conference, the Biden-Harris administration launched their National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. This strategy emphasizes pursuing five pillars to address hunger- and diet-related diseases in the United States. It was surprising yet affirming for the POTUS to use the term “diet-related diseases” thus recognizing diet and dietary habits as a critical cause for various diseases prevalent in the United States for decades. The government has recognized the individual impacts of poor nutrition such as poor mental health and increased stress. The government has also recognized national-level impacts of poor nutrition, such as increased healthcare costs.

I am personally impressed by the national strategy proposed, and a couple of components stood out to me. First, updating the current nutrition criteria and definition for any food packaging to have a “healthy” claim on the label. Diet-related diseases have a disproportionate impact on historically underserved populations.

Under this updated criterion, the food industry must abide by meeting the specific limits for carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals to market their food products as “healthy.” For example, no cereal products with over 230mg of sodium may be labeled as “healthy.” If you have been following my column, you will remember me writing about the importance of balance in sodium-to-potassium ratio.

Nutrition and food security researchers have discussed the little funding available for them to conduct nutrition and food security research. Under this strategy, the federal government will aim to commit more dollars to nutrition and food security research, especially those focusing on addressing equity and access-related issues.

This is also high time when we shift the treatment-based nutrition science research to advancing prevention-based nutrition science research. The Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior is one of several organizations that proposed recommendations to the White House for this conference, and specifically highlighted the need to increase nutrition education and expand federal health assistance programs to include nutrition-related services. The national strategy proposes to test the Medicaid coverage of nutrition education. The strategy also proposes to “improve access to traditional foods,” thereby giving the due importance to culturally relevant foods.

Finally, the strategy proposes to expand access to safe places for physical activity. Considering recent incidents of car abductions and murders, I think the fourth pillar of the strategy, “Supporting Physical Activity for All,” is timely and important. Yes, there are many gyms and recreation centers throughout the country that folks could utilize, but a significant portion of the population cannot afford these physical activity spaces. The strategy aims to also funds the update and promotion efforts of “Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.”

The national strategy should be seen as a kickstart to several nationwide efforts that would eventually help the federal government to reach their goals. Did you attend the White House conference? What do you think?