Making Public Health Nutrition relevant to evidence-based action

Abstract

Public health nutrition enjoyed many breakthroughs in the\r20th century – from the discovery of vitamins and the\rmetabolic roles of some 60 macro- and micronutrients, to\rthe effects of maternal and childhood diet on health over\rthe life course. Moreover, the food shortages in the UK that\rwere experienced during World War II gave the first\ropportunity to show that nutritional science could make a\rvaluable contribution to public policy. However, public\rhealth nutrition is now facing the challenge of deriving\rrecommendations based on systematically evaluated\revidence; that is, the new concept of evidence-based\rnutrition. This challenge was foreseen by John Garrow\ralmost 10 years ago in his lucid editorial proposing the\rformation of meta-analysis ‘clubs'.