4.1: Healthy Food Choices and Lifestyles

Promote Healthier Individual Food Choices and Lifestyles and Prevent Obesity; Improve Human Health by Better Understanding the Nutrient Requirements of Individuals and the Nutritional Value of Foods; Determine Food Consumption Patterns of Americans.

Other Information:

Good health is dependent on consumption of foods that have the right balance of nutrients to meet an individual’s needs. Nutritional values of foods appear to be more complex than their fat, carbohydrate, protein, mineral, and vitamin composition. Recent progress points to classes of compounds that play a critical role in health, such as antioxidants, lycopenes, and isoflavones. The role of these and other food components on individual health needs to be characterized. In addition, there are very few studies to discover and measure the presence of other new classes of nutrients in the varied food supply. Building databases of food composition is critical to developing healthy diets. Also critical is improving the health- promoting value of food, through selection, biotechnology, processing, and other practices. ARS research will determine the requirements for new classes of nutrients, determine their composition in a variety of foods, and enhance the nutritional value of our food. Performance Measures: 4.1.1: Scientifically assess the efficacy of enhancements to the nutritional value of our food supply and identify, conduct, and support intramural and extramural research to develop, test, and evaluate effective clinical and community dietary intervention strategies and programs for modifying diet, eating behavior, and food choices to improve the nutritional status of targeted populations. A special emphasis is to prevent obesity and promote healthy dietary behaviors. Baseline: 2002 – Developed a tomato with enhanced levels of lycopene. Established local cooperators to define and implement Nutritional Intervention Research Initiatives (Delta NIRI) in a consortium of communities in the tri-state Lower Mississippi Delta area. Target: 2007 – Scientifically assess the health benefits to humans of two new functional foods introduced via ARS research programs. Execute and report on two completed Delta NIRI projects. 4.1.2: Define functions, bioavailability, interactions, and human requirements (including effects such as genetic, health status, and environmental factors) for known, emerging, and new classes of nutrients. Determine the abundance of known, emerging, and new classes of nutrients in the food supply and provide that information in databases. Baseline: 2002 – Provided background information and research required to update and revise Dietary Reference Intakes. Issued Release 15 of the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. Target: 2007 – Develop research information and technology on human requirements and functions of known and emerging classes of nutrients and on the relationships between diet and health needed to support Departmental food policy reflective of revised Dietary Guidelines 2005. Expand the Nutrient Database for Standard Reference to include phytochemicals and release the joint ARS-NIH Dietary Supplement Ingredient Database (DSID). 4.1.3: Determine food consumption patterns of Americans, including those of different ages, ethnicity, regions, and income levels. Provide sound scientific analyses of the U.S. food consumption information to enhance the effectiveness and management of the Nation’s domestic food and nutrition assistance programs. Baseline: 2002 – Implemented the combined “What We Eat in America” dietary survey and provided food consumption information for 5,000 individuals. Target: 2007 – Provide food consumption information from the “What We Eat in America” dietary survey for 10,000 individuals.

Indicator(s):

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