Food is fundamental to life and health. The major product from agricultural production is food for human consumption. A viable agricultural enterprise demands that producers target consumers' needs for desirable, safe, and nutritious foods. Consumers have grown more demanding in their desire for foods that improve health and the quality of life, improve physical performance, reduce risks of chronic diseases, and increase the life span. This trend is likely to increase. The United States enjoys the preeminent role as food provider to the world. Research on human nutritional needs must continue in concert with research that increases agricultural production and improves product quality.

Human nutrition science has taken a major step forward from a focus on the prevention of nutrient deficiencies to an emphasis on health-maintenance and reduced risks of chronic diseases. Scientific research has demonstrated that what and how much we eat profoundly affects growth, development, and aging, and the ability to enjoy life to its fullest. Dietary intake is linked to risks for development of a variety of common, chronic diseases that are disabling and life threatening. Among those diseases linked strongly to diet, the cost for medical treatment and care exceeds $200 billion per year. The annual economic impact of cardiovascular disease in the U.S. exceeds $80 billion, that of obesity exceeds $86 billion, osteoporosis $10 billion for care alone, cancer $104 billion, and cataract surgery $4 billion. The American Cancer Society estimated in 1996 that one-third of the 500,000 cancer deaths annually in the U.S. are due to a variety of dietary factors.

The staggering cost of nutrition-related diseases clearly points out the need to develop effective strategies, based on the results of sound human nutrition research, to lower the cost of health care by prevention of diseases. The success of nutrition research in the last 30 years to reduce the incidence and severity of cardiovascular and digestive disease, and also some forms of cancer is a clear indication that alterations in diet and lifestyle have beneficial effects both through reduced morbidity and mortality and a concomitant reduction in the cost of health care. In spite of our ability to reduce health care costs through dietary interventions, our national investment in human nutrition research has not kept pace with the need for this research. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) research can be used to promote health through programs that emphasize foods for well-being, and reduce the need for medical care. ARS research can be used to establish healthful intakes of specific nutrients and to develop strategies for intervention into the diets for targeted populations. By defining interventions for reducing disease risks, health care costs can be substantially reduced.

Changing population dynamics, life style habits, food technologies, animal and crop production capabilities, biotechnology, and the globalization of the market for foods, all demand revisions in thinking about how to target food production, processing, and intervention strategies to assure optimization of health through nutrition. New approaches to elucidate the fundamental inter-relationships between diet, genetics, and health, and applying and validating strategies to stimulate healthy food, nutrition, and lifestyle behaviors must be a part of nutrition programs today. ARS has an integrated and multidisciplinary human nutrition program to address these issues.

Despite recent advances in nutrition research, much is yet to be determined. New and powerful techniques in molecular biology have recently been introduced in nutrition research. These should be used to identify those individuals at greatest risk for nutritionally related diseases, and nutrient-gene interactions. A continuing need is to expand our understanding of the roles nutrients play in maintaining health and to identify those components in foods that are most beneficial. Determining what factors mediate food choices, how eating behavior affects food intake, and what intervention strategies can be used to change those behaviors are also critical research needs.

Using more modern methods in research, it is obvious that requirements for various nutrients clearly change throughout the life cycle and under different physiological states, such as pregnancy and lactation. Diets early in life may affect our requirements for nutrients or increase the risk for disease later in life. Scientific evidence has shown that the long term health consequences during adult life are determined to some extent by nutritional events during critical periods of child development. Proper food choices must be made to enjoy good health throughout life.

The strong connection between human nutrition research and the food and agricultural sciences can only be developed as a national effort. ARS is an ideal location for human nutrition research because of the proximity to research on basic agriculture. ARS has major research programs in animal, plant, soil and post harvest sciences that can directly respond to knowledge of nutritional concerns by modifying the food composition, expanding food choices, and providing more options for selection of healthful diets by at risk populations. If nutritionists are to be successful in providing sound dietary advice and affecting the health of the population, it is essential that the research activities take place in an environment where there is continuous dialog and collaboration between the Human Nutrition National Program and programs in plant, animal and the other agricultural sciences. As nutritional needs are identified, continual efforts will be made to distribute the information that consumers need to make wise choices. Unlike the Department of Health and Human Services and in particular the National Institutes of Health whose research is oriented toward causes and treatment of disease, ARS human nutrition research is targeted towards health, quality of life, prevention of chronic disease and promotion of a nutritious supply of food.