Government Resources:

--US Department of Agriculture (USDA) -- Resource for the Food Guide Pyramid,, U.S. Dietary Guidelines, Food and Dietary Intake Statistics, Food Assistance Programs,Food Safety and Recall information, Food Composition Database

-- Centers for Disease Control (CDC) -- Resource for pediatric growth charts, national and state health and obesity statistics

--Food and Drug Administration/Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FDA/CFSAN) --Resource for information about product complaints, labeling laws, and related fact sheets

USDA Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services (FNCS)

Through food assistance and nutrition education for consumers, FNCS encourages consumers to make healthful food choices.

Food and Nutrition Information Center (FNIC) 

FNIC's web site provides a directory to credible, accurate, and practical resources for consumers, nutrition and health professionals, educators and government personnel. Visitors can find printable format educational materials, government reports, research papers and more, including:

• Dietary Guidelines
• Food Guide Pyramid
• Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) and Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA)
• Food Composition Data Base and Resources -- link to the USDA's extensive database of food composition
• Dietary Supplements Data Base and Resources
• Food Surveys
• FNIC Reports and Studies
• Food and Nutrition Internet Resources
• FNIC Resouce Lists -- Extensive links to food and nutrition information from various U.S. Government resources
• Consumer Corner -- Contains information about the food and nutrition topics the public most frequently asks about. Much of the information is presented in full-text documents for your convenience.

USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)

• Food Stamps
• Child Nutrition Programs
• Team Nutrition - A school-based nutrition-and-health-education program.

Food Safety Information Service

• USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service
• USDA National Food Safety Database
   - Food safety information for consumers, educators, and professionals.
• Meat and Poultry Hotline
• Food Safety Educator Newsletter
• Recall Information 
• FoodSafety.gov 
  - A gateway site to government food safety information.
• Fight BAC! 
  - By the Partnership for Food Safety Education.  Fight BAC! is a public-private partnership, which includes the USDA and three other government agencies, designed to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness by educating Americans about safe food handling practices.

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) -- USDA/ARS Human Nutrition Program 

• Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University
• Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center
• Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center
• Western Human Nutrition Research Center
• Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center
• Delta NIRI (Nutrition Intervention Research Initiative) 
• Food Surveys Research Group (FSRG)

Other Government Resources

National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)  
- Provides statistics from the US government's Centers for Disease Control (CDC), including NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) data.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 

This website contain useful information and statistics on a variety of topics, including:

• Obesity and Overweight In the United States, obesity has risen at an epidemic rate during the past 20 years. One of the national health objectives for the year 2010 is to reduce the prevalence of obesity among adults to less than 15%.
  • Obesity Trends
    • Powerpoint presentation -- Adult obesity prevalence 1985 - 2002
    • Obesity Trends Among Children and Adolescents 1999 - 2000
    • State Programs -- statistics on obesity from all 50 states plus information on state-level program
  • Body Mass Index (BMI) -- Information regarding Body Mass Index and how to determine BMI for adolescents and children.
    • BMI-for-age percentile growth charts for children 2 to 20 years (pdf files ):
      Boys
      Girls
• Nutrition Topics
  • 5 A Day -- This national nutrition program seeks to increase the number of daily servings Americans eat of fruits and vegetables to five or more
  • Anemia and Iron Status -- Young children are at great risk of iron deficiency because of rapid growth and increased iron requirements. Iron deficiency can occur due to lack of iron in the diets. If this continues, anemia results. Anemia is a manifestation of iron deficiency when it is relatively severe.
    • Recommendations to Prevent and Control Iron Deficiency in the United States
  • Breastfeeding -- Breastfeeding topics, such as promotion, support, government activities and national policies.
  • Formative Research for a Campaign to Promote Healthy Weight Using Relevant Physical Activity and Nutrition Messages for Youth
    This report summarizes a collaborative qualitative research study conducted by the CDC’s Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity (DNPA) and Westat. The summary conclusions reflect ideas and strategies that could be integrated into a healthy-weight communication effort targeting young people.(Executive Summary PDF - 122K)
  • Healthier and Safer Food into the 21st Century -- Offers tips to avoid spoiled and contaminated foods.
  • Healthy Eating Tips -- Here are some tips for healthy eating at home, work, and elsewhere to help you get started.
    • Tipping the Scales in Your Favor -- Weight management ideas.
    • 5 A Day Fruit and Vegetable Quick Tips -- Quick tips and recipes to help you meet the "5 A Day" goal for fruits and vegetables.
    • Healthy Children, Healthy Choices -- Advice and tips for parents to promote healthy weight in growing children.
    • Staying Strong: Calcium Cool-Cuisine Tips for Girls -- Great ideas for quick ways to make sure you eat plenty of calcium every day.
  • IMMPaCt -- International Micronutrient Malnutrition Prevention and Control Program
    CDC's IMMPaCt program contributes its skills and resources to the global effort to eliminate micronutrient malnutrition.
  • National Bone Health Campaign
    Powerful Bones. Powerful Girls.TM Educates and encourages girls aged 9 to 12 years to establish lifelong, healthy habits that build and maintain strong bones.

Combined Health Information Database (CHID)
  - A searchable database produced by health-related agencies of the federal government that provides titles, abstracts, and availability information for health information and health education resources.

Consumer.gov
  - A federal gateway site for health, food, and child-issue information from the FDA and other federal agencies.

FDA/Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) - Provides access to many government resources on nutrition.

• FDA-MedWatch
    - FDA medical products reporting program. This site gives definition of supplements, news and events related to supplements and databases for supplements.

Health.gov
  - A federal gateway site to health and nutrition information on the web, includes information on Healthy People 2010 and links to most government health sites.

Healthfinder 
- A search engine that pulls together federal and state information on a variety of health topics from the Department of Health and Human Services.

Healthy People 2010  
- Includes both the document and comments by individuals.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
  - Is the site for the national Milk Matters public health campaign and other public health information from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Links to other web sites are considered an extended service but are not controlled or endorsed by the CNRC or Baylor College of Medicine.