See corresponding perspective on page 841.
The events of the past 2 years have confirmed that the readership of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, and indeed all US and many other citizens, are greatly affected by the decisions and efforts of many federal and other policy makers. These include not just requests for proposals by the US NIH, but Presidential Executive Orders, public health guidelines by the CDC, recommendations by the Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture around dietary guidelines, legislative activity by members of the US Congress, and Supreme Court decisions. These regulations, laws, and decisions impact all of us as citizens but also us as nutrition scientists, at all levels of our clinical, educational, and research careers.
In this issue of the Journal (1), we initiate a new series of Perspective pieces entitled “New Developments from Federal Colleagues.” The intent of this series is to provide regular updates of relevance to our readership from pivotal institutions and individuals in the federal government. These will includes leaders at NIH, CDC, FDA, Congress, and other branches of the federal and other levels of government.
We are particularly happy to begin the series with an important piece by Chairman of the House Rules Committee, Congressman James P McGovern from Massachusetts, who recently passed a bipartisan bill through the House of Representatives calling on medical schools and residency and fellowship programs to provide nutrition education that demonstrates the connection between diet and disease, which ASN endorsed (2). McGovern has been leading the push for a national conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, which President Biden has announced will take place at the White House this September. In this piece, Congressman McGovern highlights the rationale for this important legislation and meeting. He also calls on ASN members to contribute their voice and expertise to this important dialogue, which ASN has done in recommendations to the White House for the national strategy on hunger, nutrition, and health that will be released during the conference.
We believe this new series will allow our readers to be aware of changes in relevant legislation, guidelines, policies, and even shifts in priorities at the federal level that may have a sizeable impact on the careers and endeavors of our readership. More fundamentally, we are all increasingly aware of the impact that federal rules and regulations can have on our professional and civic life, and we look forward to ongoing discussions among our readers on these topics.
Notes
CPD was supported in part by the NIH (K24DK104676 and 2P30 DK040561). JBM was supported in part by the USDA (8050-51000-106-00D) and NIH (R03 CA252672). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the USDA.
Author disclosure: The authors report no conflicts of interest.
Contributor Information
Joel B Mason, Tufts University, USDA Human Nutrition Research Center, Boston, MA, USA; School of Nutritional Science and Policy and the School of Medicine, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.
Christopher P Duggan, Center for Nutrition, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Departments of Nutrition and Global Health and Population, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
References
- 1. McGovern JP. As White House conference approaches, now is the time for a national plan to address the link between hunger, nutrition education, and health. Am J Clin Nutr. 2022;116(4):841–2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2. US Congress . H. Res.1118—Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States recognizes the mounting personal and financial burden of diet-related disease in the United States and calls on medical schools, graduate medical education programs, and other health professional training programs to provide meaningful physician and health professional education on nutrition and diet. Available from:https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-resolution/1118/actions(accessed 29 July 2022).