Web-enabled and improved software tools and data are needed to measure nutrient intakes and physical activity for personalized health research.

Food intake, physical activity (PA), and genetic makeup each affect health and each factor influences the impact of the other 2 factors. Nutrigenomics describes interactions between genes and environment. Knowledge about the interplay between environment and genetics would be improved if experimental designs included measures of nutrient intake and PA. Lack of familiarity about how to analyze environmental variables and ease of access to tools and measurement instruments are 2 deterrents to these combined studies. This article describes the state of the art for measuring food intake and PA to encourage researchers to make their tools better known and more available to workers in other fields. Information presented was discussed during a workshop on this topic sponsored by the USDA, NIH, and FDA in the spring of 2009.

Food composition data: the foundation of dietetic practice and research.

Food composition databases and dietary assessment systems are important tools for food and nutrition professionals. The availability and accessibility of data have improved over time along with the technology to convert the information into useful formats for planning diets, writing educational materials, counseling patients, and conducting research. Primary sources of food composition data include government, academic, and other institutional databases; the food industry; and scientific literature. Changes in the marketplace affect food availability and composition and affect the accuracy and adequacy of food composition databases. Improvements in both food composition data and in dietary assessment methods have worked synergistically to improve estimates of dietary intake. The development of databases for food frequency assessment systems requires special considerations for data aggregation for each food or food grouping in the questionnaires. Considerations for selecting a dietary assessment system include appropriateness of the data for the intended audience or purpose, efficiency of the search strategy for retrieving data, content and format of summary information, and cost. Needs for food composition data vary depending on dietetic practice area; however, most food and nutrition professionals will benefit from becoming more informed about food composition data, exploring new ways to educate themselves about databases and database systems, and advocating for what is most needed in dietetic practice.

Nutrition education materials from the National Institutes of Health: development, review, and availability.

Many of the institutes, centers, and offices (ICOs) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) develop and disseminate nutrition education materials for the general public. These materials provide information about the relationship of diet to health and about associations between diet and specific diseases. The materials, which are drafted by the NIH or contract science writers, go through pretesting (for literacy level and appropriateness for target audiences) and ICO clearance (for scientific accuracy). To further ensure scientific and technical accuracy and consistency with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the materials then go through a two-tiered governmental review system. The first review is through the Nutrition Education Subcommittee (NES) of the NIH Nutrition Coordinating Committee. The second review, which is required for federal nutrition education materials, is conducted jointly by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Nutrition Policy Board Committee on Dietary Guidance and by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Dietary Guidance Working Group. The review process helps ensure consistency in nutrition messages within the NIH ICOs and among government agencies. The pretesting, ICO clearance, NES review, and joint DHHS/USDA review result in materials for nutrition educators that are high in quality, low in cost or free, easily accessible, appropriate for the intended target audience, and consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.