Dietary reference intakes for vitamin D: justification for a review of the 1997 values.

Recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) reviews of the process for deriving Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) suggest that determining the need for a new nutrient review should be evaluated against criteria set a priori. After selecting the criterion of significant new and relevant research, a working group of US and Canadian government scientists used results from a systematic review and 2 conferences on vitamin D and health to evaluate whether significant new and relevant scientific evidence had become available since the 1997 IOM publication of the DRIs for vitamin D. This working group concluded that there appears to be new research meeting the criteria for 4 key DRI questions.

Setting dietary guidelines: the US process.

Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans has been issued jointly by the US Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) every five years since 1980. The Dietary Guidelines form the cornerstone of federal nutrition policy and provide the basis for all federal nutrition education activities. Beginning with the 1985 edition, USDA and HHS have appointed a Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee of prominent experts in nutrition and health to review recent advances in scientific and medical knowledge and to recommend revisions of the Dietary Guidelines, if warranted, to the Secretaries of HHS and USDA.

Summary of the 2000 Surgeon General's listening session: toward a national action plan on overweight and obesity.

Objective: To provide insight into discussions at the Surgeon General's Listening Session, "Toward a National Action Plan on Overweight and Obesity," and to complement The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity.

Research Methods And Procedures: On December 7 and 8, 2000, representatives from federal, state, academic, and private sectors attended the Surgeon General's Listening Session and were given an opportunity to recommend what to include in a national plan to address overweight and obesity. The public was invited to comment during a corresponding public comment period.