Food Circle A latest report by the President of the American Society for Nutrition (ASN), James O. Hill, PhD, highlights the bigger advantages gained from the undertaking of small changes in one’s personal life. Small changes like maintaining a healthy weight can have bigger positive effects in life.

Hill has written this article on the behalf of a joint task force of ASN, the Institute of Food Technologists, and the International Food Information Council. The Task Force says that by adopting small changes in our daily life, people can move in the right health direction.

Hill says, “By shifting our focus to small changes in diet and physical activity, we can prevent weight gain and potentially reduce the magnitude of the obesity problem. Large permanent changes in diet and activity are much harder to implement and sustain. Significant benefits to society are possible by promoting small, achievable changes.”

Small changes like:

  • Having a nutritious breakfast.
  • Reducing food portion by 5 percent.
  • Climbing stairs instead of using the elevator.
  • Opting for non-caloric beverages instead of sweetened beverages.
  • Walking an extra 2,000 step a day.

    • Hill says that, “Obesity is a complex matter, but starting with one small step can lead to significant progress in achieving energy balance.”

    A Joint Task Force on Food and Nutrition Science was formed in 2006 by the Institute of Food Technologies, American Society for Nutrition, and International Food Information Council. Their purpose was to combine forces to link the pathway of nutrition, food and health and to enhance consumer health, and tackle with the opportunities and challenges faced by food and nutrition science.

    Their aim was to encourage a deeper discussion between the food science and nutrition communities, which may in turn influence certain nutrition policies, research opportunities and public health.

    The article will be published in the February issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.