Nutrition is becoming ever more central to our understanding of virtually all metabolic processes. Its biological basis offers insight into the mechanisms by which diet influences human health and disease. Nutritional biochemistry broadens and deepens our understanding of many aspects of human biology including immunity, development, and aging. Research in this complex field must integrate information from a myriad of fields including cellular and molecular biology, molecular genetics, physiology, epidemiology, and clinical medicine.

Nutritional biochemistry is a vital field of study. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, poor nutrition (along with inactivity) contributes to approximately half a million deaths each year. Poor nutrition is also a leading cause of disability and loss of independence. Healthier dietary practices, according to the US Department of Agriculture, could prevent at least $71 billion per year in medical costs, lost productivity, and premature deaths in the United States alone.

At the international level, the World Health Organization focuses on nutrition as one of the most significant factors influencing human health; under nutrition contrinutes to about a third of all child deaths around the world, amd growing rates of overweight and obesity worldwide are associated with the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

Gene nutrient interactions in growth and developmemt and in disease prevention are fundamental to health, therefore regional Centers on Genetics, Nutrition and Fitness for Health should be established worldwide.

Heads of state must elevate, as a matter of urgency, Nutrition as a national priority, that access to a healthy diet should be considered a human right and that the lead responsibility for Nutrition should be placed in Ministries of Health rather than agriculture so that the health requirements drive agricultural priorities, not vice versa.

Nutritional security should be given the same priority as food security.

Chad Cox, PhD.

Live and Learn. We All Do.

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