Americans are fast becoming overweight but yet remain undernourished. The newly formed Nutrient-Rich Coalition, was formed to address and clarify consumers’ misconceptions and help them understand how to get more nutrition from the foods they eat and drink.
This coalition takes a new approach to defining “healthy foods” by promoting a nutrient-rich approach to eating. It follows the advice of the dietary guidelines and MyPyramid by encouraging getting the most vitamins, minerals and other nutrients from foods while staying within calorie recommendations.
The coalition is a partnership that brings together leading scientific researchers, communication experts and twelve food commodity associations. They recently launched a new web site, www.nutrientrichfoods.org/ which provides user-friendly tips, recipe ideas and grocery shopping lists to help consumers simplify, and even enjoy, the process. The site also contains helpful resources for health professionals, including the Live Well! Tool kit. The tool kit is easily downloadable from the site and was created as an education guide for health professionals to use with their clients.The coalition sums it all up by stating “The Nutrient Rich Foods Coalition is advancing scientific and market research to develop tools that make it easier for people to get the most nutrition from their calories, as recommended by the dietary guidelines and MyPyramid.”
On the Scientific Advisory Committee you find:
Adam Drewnowski, PhD, University of Washington
Victor Fulgoni, PhD, Nutrition Impact, LLC
Robert Heaney, MD, FACP, FAIN, Creighton University
Eileen Kennedy, PhD, Tufts University
Janet King, PhD, University of California, Berkeley & Davis
Paul LaChance, PhD, Rutgers University
Esther Myers, PhD, RD, American Dietetic Association