Physiological Need for Calcium, Iron, and Folic Acid for Women of Various Subpopulations During Pregnancy and Beyond.

Women tend to supplement their diets with multivitamin/mineral (MVM) supplements more often than men, and reports indicate that more than 90% of pregnant women in the United States supplement their diets with prenatal MVMs. Given the widespread use of MVMs among women and given the increasing efforts to unveil the importance of phenotype-specific health determinants, it seems imperative to review what is known about variations in nutrient physiology among women from different ethnic and racial groups and at different reproductive stages of life. In this study, we embark on an assessment of the scientific evidence and knowledge gaps that impact the precise determination of nutrient levels (specifically calcium, iron, and folic acid) that confer benefits to various subpopulations of women in the United States.

Dietary recommendations and identified research needs for The National Children's Study.

Many years of research have resulted in a set of accepted methods for dietary assessment of adult populations in large epidemiologic studies. Yet, relatively little has been done to develop and validate dietary methods for studies of pregnant and lactating women, infants, children, and adolescents. As plans for including dietary assessment in the National Children's Study (NCS) were developed, it became clear that complex methodological issues required further study and clarification. Along with validation of existing and new instruments, research is required to identify key dietary characteristics to be assessed at various stages of childhood and adolescence and how that information can best be collected. The types of instruments used, the mode of data collection (automated vs. nonautomated instruments), the timing of data collection, and differentiation between children and parents as respondents are areas requiring further inquiry. This paper presents the research needs identified through the process followed to provide the NCS with recommendations for the collection of dietary intake data.

The National Nutrition Summit: history and continued commitment to the nutritional health of the U.S. population.

Over the past several decades, great progress has been made in developing national nutrition policies and research agendas that address numerous problems faced by various segments of our population. Despite the success of these initiatives and our understanding of the importance of nutrition throughout the life cycle, ongoing nutrition-related problems have been identified and still need to be adequately addressed through research and policy. The recognition of these various issues inspired the development of an agenda for the National Nutrition Summit held in May 2000, jointly sponsored by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and of Health and Human Services. The major goal of the Summit was to forge partnerships among policy makers and program planners at the federal, state, and community levels to examine what accomplishments were made since 1969 and to identify existing gaps in the areas of food, nutrition and health. This review provides an overview of the purpose and overarching themes that emerged from the Summit, along with a review of additional resources from the Summit available on a website sponsored by the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture.