The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) is pleased to announce the availability of a valuable new nutrition information resource at www.nns.nih.gov. The recently launched National Nutrition Summit website provides a wealth of information, previously unavailable on-line, from the May 2000 National Nutrition Summit and the historic 1969 White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health. The new website was made possible by a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the ODS of the Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The website provides a synopsis of the recommendations and highlights of speeches and discussions of the participants at the National Nutrition Summit, held May 30 and 31, 2000 in Washington, D.C. In addition, the website includes pertinent information from the landmark 1969 White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health, which is considered the starting point for refocusing the public and private sector on critical issues in nutrition and public health.

The 2000 National Nutrition Summit provided an opportunity to highlight accomplishments in the areas of food, nutrition, and health since the all-important 1969 White House Conference; to identify continuing challenges and emerging opportunities for the nation in these areas; and to focus on nutrition and lifestyle issues across the lifespan, particularly those related to the nation's epidemic of overweight and obesity.

"The Summit provided an opportunity for all segments of society committed to improving nutrition in the US to work together in developing and implementing strategies that will meet the continuing and emerging nutrition and physical activity needs of our nation." said Dr. Paul Coates, ODS Director and co-chair of the 2000 National Nutrition Summit steering committee. "In launching this new website," he continued, "it is our hope that researchers, physicians, public health officials, policymakers and the media will draw on the lessons learned to shape future nutrition-related efforts."

The National Nutrition Summit website provides access to:

• Speeches, videocasts, and other events that occurred during the groundbreaking National Nutrition Summit.

• Recommendations for research and public health initiatives generated during the National Nutrition Summit.

• Journal articles and program initiatives resulting from information presented at the National Nutrition Summit.

• For the first time ever, an electronic version of the full report and executive summary of the 1969 White House Conference on Food, Nutrition and Health.

Johanna Dwyer, DScRD, Assistant Administrator for Human Nutrition, Agricultural Research Service at the USDA said, "Dr. Jean Mayer, the Director of the first White House Conference on Food, Nutrition and Health, viewed nutrition not only as a science, but as an agenda for solving problems. As his assistant at that conference, I think that he would be pleased by the progress America has made in solving many nutrition problems. But he would be the first to call for continued emphasis on research and education to attack the problems of overweight and obesity and would applaud the government-wide efforts that are now being put into place and are documented on the website."

The Office of Dietary Supplements is an office within the National Institutes of Health, a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).