Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 2014;114(7):1113-1119
Abstract: One of the major challenges facing the United States is the high number of overweight and obese adults, along with the growing number of overweight and unfit children and youths. To improve the nation’s health, young people must move into adulthood without the burden of obesity and its associated chronic diseases. To address these issues, the American College of Sports Medicine, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (the Academy), and the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agriculture Research Service convened an Expert Panel meeting in October 2012, entitled “Energy Balance at a Crossroads: Translating the Science into Action.” Experts in the fields of nutrition and exercise science came together in Washington, DC, to identify the biological, lifestyle, and environmental changes that will most successfully help children and families understand the dynamic nature of energy balance and tip the scale toward healthier weights. The desired outcome of this expert panel meeting was to translate the science of energy balance into practical and appropriate recommendations for training current and future professionals in nutrition, exercise/physical activity (PA), health education, and prekindergarten through grade 12 teacher education.
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This work was supported by the IAFNS Committee on Balancing Food and Activity for Health.