Despite overwhelming evidence that poor diets contribute to preventable illness and many leading causes of death – heart disease, cancer and Type 2 diabetes – doctors and other health professionals get little training in nutrition in medical school and other education.
One year after the first White House hunger conference in 50 years, there are wins as well as areas of needed focus to meet the goals laid out by government and private entities.
Low-income consumers who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, can now use their benefits to buy groceries online in all 50 states and Washington, DC, following Instacart’s launch at seven Safeway locations in Alaska.
The Biden Administration’s expansive National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health released in September included a commitment to expand healthy and sustainable food options at federal food facilities, and now 160 non-governmental organizations are calling on the president to require its implementation.
Dr. Jeffrey I. Gordon has received many honors in recent years for pioneering work on gut microbiomes and their effect on obesity, childhood malnutrition.