Health Food for a Healthy Planet: Improving Lives and Strengthening Communities

According to the 2014 Global Nutrition Report, nearly every country in the world is affected by some form of malnutrition-under-five stunting, anemia in women of reproductive age, and/or adult overweight. Adding to this burden is the challenge of feeding a growing world population, expected to reach over 9 billion by 2050. Unprecedented attention is being given to achieving food security by governments, public and private sectors. Many efforts are food systems based-- focusing on increasing access to nutrient-dense food in a manner that is sustainable and reduces environmental impact. This approach brings collaboration by several stakeholder groups and recognizes the important contribution of nutrition to individual health and strong societies. Therefore, it makes sense that increasing access to and consumption of sufficient calories and nutrients supplied by a diverse diet through healthy food systems can improve the health of individuals and lead to stable and thriving communities. To achieve these goals, many organizations are developing nutrition- sensitive agriculture interventions. Nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions are ones that increase the variety of nutrient-rich foods produced and consumed by at risk populations. These types of interventions need to be well-designed, implemented, and tested to determine if they improve health outcomes in different regions of the works and within diverse cultures. The value of these types of interventions was highlighted at the second International Congress of Nutrition in 2014. In this session, opportunities for involvement of dietitians and dietetic associations in healthy food systems to achieve food security and improved health will be presented, and activities in these areas by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and its Foundation will be highlighted.