Role of Nutrition in Public Health

Everybody knows that a good diet is important to overall health, but disease rates suggest the message isn't sinking in enough. Failure to eat properly raises rates of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer, creating a nightmare for public health departments charged with the task of improving the health of their citizens. Public health departments need to find more effective ways to get out the message in their communities that good nutrition prevents or delays many diseases.

Socioeconomics

• One of the most vulnerable groups for poor nutrition are people with low incomes. Public health departments can promote better nutrition among the poor by increasing access to healthy food. Some public health departments form partnerships with local farmers' markets to give residents more access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Public health initiatives can also educate people in poor communities about the importance of proper diet.

Maternal Health

• Public health programs--such as the Maternal and Family Health Services' Healthy Beginnings Plus--work to improve the health of expectant mothers by providing vitamins and nutrition information as part of prenatal care for low-income mothers. Nutrition improves maternal outcomes in many ways, including reducing the number of low birth weight babies and helping pregnancies continue to full term. Nutrition during pregnancy also affects the child throughout life, including influencing brain development, predisposition to disease and school performance.

Infants and Children

• According to the American Academy of Pediatrics and most experts, breastfeeding is the healthiest choice for babies, leaving infants less vulnerable to disease and obesity. Cooperative extension services--such as the one affiliated with Clemson University--can promote breastfeeding in communities where rates are low by educating parents about reasons to breastfeed and which solid foods are most appropriate to introduce in which order. Schools can also promote good nutrition among children using resources from cooperative extension services.

Campaigns

• Cooperative extension services are coalitions between universities, federal government agencies and local officials to educate communities. The United States Department of Agriculture creates many nutrition-based health programs which are then implemented on the local level. Some examples of public health nutrition programs created by the USDA include the "5 A Day" campaign that recommends eating more fruits and vegetables.

Disease

• Although public health initiatives often focus on the preventative aspect of nutrition, good nutrition is also important, even once disease has developed. Many diseases are manageable with good nutrition, including diabetes, gallbladder disease, heart disease, inflammatory bowel disorder and gout. Educating people about how nutrition can prevent and treat disease can lower total health care costs for communities.