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Defining and addressing the nutritional needs of populations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Ricardo Uauy
Ricardo Uauy*
Affiliation:
Instituto de Nutricion y Tecnología de los Alimentos (INTA), University of Chile, Santiago, Chile, and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
*
*Corresponding author: Email uauy@uchile.cl
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Abstract

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Objective

To examine the present methods used to define nutritional needs, and to analyse the intrinsic limitations of the reductionist chemical, biological and medical approaches to assess requirements. To establish the necessity to incorporate the complexities emerging from a broader understanding of the biological sciences as well as to include environmental and social dimensions in addressing nutritional needs.

Method

Examples of the limitations of current approaches and the implications of these in defining potential solutions and policy options to address present nutritional problems are presented and discussed.

Conclusion

The chemical and biological sciences have provided a strong base for nutrition and have been essential in establishing nutrition as a science with public health relevance. However, these approaches are clearly insufficient to address the main challenges that confront nutrition science now in the twenty-first century. There is a pressing need to include the social, economic and human rights aspects in order to define future policies that will secure the right to safe and nutritious food for all.

Keywords

Dimensions of nutrition scienceNutritional needsFood qualityNutritional requirementsNutritional recommendationDietary diversityFood fortificationNutrigenomics
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 8 , Issue 6a , September 2005 , pp. 773 - 780
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2005

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