A one year reprieve

Abstract

Helen D. Ullrich E o I T o R I A L In addition to the new administration in Washington, there has been a major change in the committee system for the Senate. Most Senate sub and select committees have been discontinued. However, thanks to the diligent work of many of you and others concerned about retaining the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, the Senate voted to retain the committee until January 1978. In the face oflosing the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, widely diverse groups told their senators that the committee was important and should be continued. It was almost a miracle because those concerned about the causes of nutrition are not organized in the same way of groups lobbying for retention of other committees which were also retained. The Senate Select Committee squeaked through with only a temporary one year reprieve. Among those who worked with us to save the committee and its focus on nutrition and health include the hunger interest groups who have been instrumental in developing legislation on food to feed the hungry, the religious groups who are concerned about adequate food to feed the world, and health groups such as the American Medical Association who are particularly concerned about nutrition as it relates to health. Nutrition is no longer a science nurtured in the laboratory by the select few. Many people feel it has a broad impact on the quality of life. Nutrition educators should work with these divergent groups to show that nutrition does indeed contribute to the quality oflife. Now, more than ever before, it is important to develop a carefully thought-out plan towards a national plan for nutrition education. After the Senate Committee was organized, the food stamp, school feeding, special supplemental feeding for women' infants and children (WIC) and the elderly feeding programs were either started or greatly expanded. Having implemented programs to alleviate hunger, there is still work to be done to assure the programs are responsive to persons most in need. There is still very little provision for the information and/or education for the recipient on which to make wise food choices within the constraints of the food programs. Nutrition education is minimal or completely lacking in these government programs. A few token pilot projects in nutrition education are being carried on in the schools. The nutrition labeling is the most visible nutrition information program, and even that is pitifully lacking in the implementation of the information. If a National Nutrition Education Policy is to be developed as a part of the larger total Nutrition Policy, where do we start? First, we can help in a coordinated effort to define a total nutrition policy encompassing food and health delivery systems. Then, with the recognition that every American has the right to know the facts about nutrition which contribute to the quality of life with the highest potential for nutritional health, an education plan can be formulated which recognizes the needs of a widely divergent population. Improved surveillance of nutrition status and food purchases by consumers as a basis for nutrition education programs is needed. A report of the Office of Technology Assessment indicates a need to integrate nutrition information with the U.S. Food Information System. Educational efforts of groups such as government, industry, communications, educators, and health professionals must be coordinated in order to have the most effective educational input to the consumer. We have a year to work with the Senate Select Committee to help prove its worth. The information its staff generates to inform the legislators about the needs in legislation can be only as effective as those who demonstrate the need. Don't wait until it is too late to express and demonstrate the needs. The development of a nutrition education policy would be a positive first step.