The 8 US nutritional policy articles include the development of nutrition services in comprehensive health care, a US nutritional policy and program, multidisciplinary personnel in nutritional health care services, the current status and future trends in food and nutrition policy, nutritional problems associated with changes in food consumption pattersn, the potential need for revision in US nutrition policy, a model for national nutrition policy, and the preliminary findings of the first US Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in 1971-72. Summary data and illustrations are presented throughout the articles.

The science of nutrition has advanced beyond expectation since Antoine La voisier as early as the 18th century showed that oxygen was necessary to change nutrients in foods to compounds which would become a part of the human body. He was also the first to measure metabolism and to show that oxidation within the body produces heat and energy. In the two hundred years that have elapsed, the essentiality of nitrogen-containing nutrients and of proteins for growth and maintenance of tissue has been established; the ne cessity for carbohydrates and certain types of fat for health has been docu mented; vitamins necessary to prevent deficiency diseases have been identified and isolated; and the requirement of many mineral elements for health has been demonstrated. Further investigations have defined the role of these nutrients in metabolic processes and quantitated their requirements at various stages of development. Additional studies have involved their use in the possible prevention of, and therapy for, disease conditions.

The role of diet in health and disease has been the subject of much general discussion in the media; major reports were recently issued by the US Surgeon General as well as by the National Academy of Sciences. In Canada, the Department of National Health and Welfare has released dietary recommendations designed to reduce the risk of disease and improve Canadian health. Diet, Nutrition, and Health is a timely source of scientific documentation on diet and health. Contributors include: J. Barone, Joyce L. Beare-Rogers, John Cairns. C. Wayne Callaway, K.K. Carroll, Sonja L. Connor, William E. Connor, Claire Cronier, Philip J. Garry, J. Geboers, Richard B. Goldbloom, Joan Dye Gussow, Richard Havel, J.R. Hebert, Anthony B. Hodsman, W.P.T. James, David J.A. Jenkins, Jozef V. Joossens, Harold Kalant, Norman M. Kaplan, David Kritchevsky, Gilbert A. Leveille, J. Alick Little, Lewis E. Lloyd, Anthony B. Miller, William E. Mitch, Minako Nagao, Heather Neilsen, Hiroko Ohgaki, Pirjo Pietinen, Robert Rhyne, Daniel A.K. Roncari, Takashi Sugimura, Keiji Wakabayshi, Thomas M.S. Wolever, and Ernst L. Wynder.