A Critical Assessment of Research Needs Identified by the Dietary Guidelines Committees from 1980 to 2010

Abstract

The Dietary Goals for the United States were introduced in 1977 and have been followed by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) every 5 years from 1980 to 2010. The DGA provide science-based advice to promote health and reduce risk for major chronic diseases through diet and physical activity. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committees are charged to provide updates of the DGA topics using the best available science. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committees' reports also identified 169 research gaps. To date, these gaps have not been compiled and assessed. We evaluated trends in number, topics, and specificity of research gaps by year by placing them in the following topic categories: general, chronic diseases/conditions, diet/diet pattern, food/ingredient, and nutrient-specific research gaps. Some research topics (eg, sodium and hypertension and appropriate uses of DGA) have been identified consistently across the years, some emerged in later years (eg, increasingly specific research gaps between dietary fatty acids and cardiovascular disease), and others appeared intermittently (eg, relationships between dietary components and cancer). These results are a call to action for all DGA stakeholders to have an immediate dialogue about how the research enterprise can best address critical research needs in a timely way to support public policy.

Dietary quality changes in response to a sugar-sweetened beverage–reduction intervention: results from the Talking Health randomized controlled clinical trial

“…HEI scores were calculated with the use of dietary intake recall data. HEI total and subcomponent scores were derived from the NDS-R output on the basis of guidelines that were developed by the NDS-R, and scores were calculated according to a standardized published protocol, which included adjustment for energy intake (15,41). Possible HEI scores ranged from 0 to 100 (the HEI total score was the sum of all 12 component scores) (41) with higher scores indicating greater adherence to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (42).…”

Feasibility, effectiveness, and perceptions of an Internet-and incentive-based behavioral weight loss intervention for overweight and obese college freshmen: A mixed methods approach

“…Significant reductions were also noted in total energy, fat and AS intake, as well as improvements in planning and tracking self-regulatory skills and self-efficacy to incorporate physical activity. The need for behavior-based interventions designed to lower dietary intake of solid fats and AS, and improve energy balance, has been recently highlighted [50]. This issue may be particularly pressing in the college population as high sugar-sweetened beverage intake (the primary source of dietary AS) is associated with increased cardiometabolic risk in adolescents and young adults [51].…”

Grand Challenges in Nutrition and Food Science Technology

“…In 2010, the Institute of Food Technology ( 10 ) narrowed the focus in health and wellness to personalized nutrition, molecular biology, and microbial ecology. The American Society for Nutrition ( 11 ) and others ( 12 ) identified several priorities for nutrition research: individual variability in response to diet and foods; early nutrition needs for reproduction, growth, development; nutrition in health maintenance; nutrition in medical management; understanding nutrition related behaviors; understanding the food supply/environment. There are also more specific research areas to target including variability of living systems (e.g., microbiome, biological networks, tissue specificity); optimal function and energy balance; disease progression and care for sub populations; drivers of food choices; nutrition and brain functions and imprinting; drivers of food choices; composition of novel ingredients.…”