Advancing the Art and Science of Dietary Assessment through Technology

摘要

The dietetics profession stands at an important crossroads in the advancement of technological applications to dietary assessment and to new wide-sweeping approaches to dietetics practice, nutrition research, and food and health policy, which are evolving as the profession moves to individualized or personalized nutrition. While dietetics practitioners (registered dietitians [RDs]/dietetic technicians, registered [DTRs]) have long individualized diet plans for patients diagnosed with diabetes or other diseases or conditions requiring medical nutrition therapy, individualization of nutrition is now aimed at optimal nutrition for health and not solely at prevention of nutrient deficiency or at disease treatment (1). The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies has published a series of six Dietary Reference Intake reports covering a total of 45 nutrients, energy, and other food components, and two reports describing ways to apply the Dietary Reference Intakes in assessment and planning (2-8). The Institute of Medicine has issued 450 research recommendations and brought experts together to discuss these research recommendations and optimal dissemination methods. Six continuing knowledge gaps were identified in 2007 as needs for future research: 1) requirements of children, pregnant and lactating women, and the elderly; 2) individual variation of requirements caused by genetics and epigenetics, lifestyle, environment, and/or geography; 3) the need for biomarkers that can predict functional outcomes and chronic diseases; 4) the need to improve dietary assessments and planning methods; 5) bioavailability; and 6) interactions among nutrients (9).