The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture created on December 1, 1994, and is the focal point within the USDA where scientific research is linked with the nutrition

Nutrition

Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....

al needs of the American public.

The creation of the Center came at a time when the American public was becoming increasingly aware of the importance of diet

Diet (nutrition)

In nutrition, diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism. Dietary habits are the habitual decisions an individual or culture makes when choosing what foods to eat. With the word diet, it is often implied the use of specific intake of nutrition for health or weight-management...

, yet was receiving conflicting nutrition messages. The Center, therefore, serves as a touchstone where the public is assured that the nutrition guidance they receive is based on sound research and analysis.

The Center reports to the http://www.fns.usda.gov/fncs/fncs.htmOffice of the Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services. The staff of the Center is composed primarily of nutritionists, nutrition scientists, dietitians, economists, and policy experts, all of whom were chosen for their expertise. Dr. Rajen Anand is the current Executive Director of the Center. The Deputy Director is Dr. Robert C. Post.

CNPP carries out its mission by (1) advancing and promoting food and nutrition guidance for all Americans; (2) assessing diet quality; and (3) advancing consumer, nutrition, and food economic knowledge.

Evidence Analysis Library Division

The Evidence Analysis Library Division (EALD) provides the latest evidence-based science to inform nutrition policy programs that support nutrition guidance provided to all Americans. It was formed to provide a broader-based evidence library to support Federal and external organizations as a repository of the most up-to-date credible literature available in the areas relative to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans: obesity, food groups, weight management, physical activity, food safety, methods of consumer nutrition education program development, risk analysis and nutrients, and social marketing. The EALD monitors, assesses, gathers, analyzes, and consults on the scientific evidence in support of nutrition, food, dietary guidance, nutrition education, and nutrition research policies and outreach programs. This CNPP Division designs and leads a wide range of scientific review projects that inform and support nutrition policy and guidance and serve as the basis for nutrition promotion and education activities. The Nutrition Evidence Library, a major function of the Division, supports the Dietary Guidelines 2010 process. The EALD serves as the USDA model upon which USDA agencies approach scientific review to support the policies for which they have responsibility. Evidence based reviews conducted by the NEL are available at NutritionEvidenceLibrary.gov.

Nutrition Guidance and Analysis Division

The Nutrition Guidance and Analysis Division (NGAD) provides national leadership, technical expertise, and cooperation for development of the legislatively mandated Dietary Guidelines for Americans and other nationally significant programs. The NGAD coordinates and shares efforts related to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, thus ensuring that Federal dietary guidance is consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and is supported across Federal departments. This Division provides leadership in promoting national food and dietary guidance by translating science-based guidance into research-based patterns for food intake and message strategies that consumers can use to make informed decisions and positively change behavior. The NGAD works closely with Federal partners to inform and promote national nutrition policy and conducts policy research on food consumption patterns, nutrients in the U.S. food supply, and consumer expenditures on children. This Division produces and manages the USDA Food Plans and the Healthy Eating Index, a validated dietary assessment tool.

Nutrition Marketing and Communication Division

The Nutrition Marketing and Communication Division (NMCD) designs, leads, and implements a wide range of nutrition education, marketing, communications, and promotion projects. The NMCD helps consumers, on a national scale, adopt behaviors for making wise food choices and being physically active. This Division also plans and coordinates marketing and communications research involving consumers, health professionals, and nutrition educators. The NMCD develops, leads, and manages public and private partnerships to help multiply the reach of tested nutrition and health messages, works actively with USDA's Nutrition Communicator's Network of public-private partners, and is an active participant in the implementation of the Administration's Let's Move Campaign. The Nutrition Communicators Network is composed of thousands of Community and dozens of National Strategic Partners that have signed on to magnify USDA's new MyPlate campaign to expand the reach of 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans messages. The NMCD provides customer support to consumers and professionals and manages the USDA's new ChooseMyPlate.gov website.

Major projects administered by CNPP

• Dietary Guidelines for Americans

• MyPlate and the Dietary Guideines multi-year communications initiative

• Healthy Eating Index

• U.S. Food Plans

• Nutrient Content of the U.S. Food Supply

• Expenditures on Children by Families

Dietary Guidelines for Americans

The Center serves as the administrative agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the issuance of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which are the cornerstone of Federal nutrition policy and nutrition education activities. The Guidelines are jointly issued and updated every 5 years by USDA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (specifically, the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion).

Every 5 years, the Departments charter a committee of 13 nutrition experts to review the peer-reviewed, published science on diet and health and develop a report of its recommendations for the next edition of the Guidelines.

The Dietary Guidelines provide authoritative advice for people 2 years and older about how good dietary habits can promote health and reduce risk for major chronic diseases.

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines were released on January 31, 2011. The updated Guidelines recommend that Americans focus on balancing their intake of calories with physical activity and consume more vegetables, fruits, low-fat dairy products, and seafood. The recommendations also advise that Americans watch their sodium intake.

MyPlate and the ChooseMyPlate.gov website

MyPlate, USDA's new food icon is designed as a visual reminder for consumers to build a healthy plate at mealtimes. It replaces MyPyramid and the Food Guide Pyramid as the Government's primary food group symbol. MyPlate is intentionally uncomplicated and serves as a familiar mealtime symbol to remind consumers to think about choosing healthier foods. MyPlate was launched along with the supporting multi-year, multi-modal communications campaign to disseminate the 2010 Dietary Guidelines nutrition messages on June 2, 2011, by the First Lady, Michelle Obama, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The Deputy Director of USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, Dr. Robert Post, led the effort to research, design, and communicate the new MyPlate initiative. Information about MyPlate as well as the tools to implement the Dietary Guidelines are at ChooseMyPlate.gov.

Healthy Eating Index

The Healthy Eating Index (HEI) is a measure of diet quality that assesses conformance to federal dietary guidance. The original HEI was created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1995. The HEI was revised in 2006 to reflect the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. A fact sheet and a technical report describing development and evaluation of the HEI-2005 can be accessed. You can also find out more information on HEI on MyPyramid.gov
here.

U.S. Food Plans

CNPP also maintains and updates the Thrifty, Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans. Each food plan represents a nutritious diet at a different cost. The Thrifty Food Plan serves as the nutritional basis for determination of Food Stamp Program benefits.

Nutrient Content of the U.S. Food Supply

The Nutrient Content of the U.S. Food Supply is a historical data series, beginning in 1909, on the amounts of nutrients per capita per day in food available for consumption. An interactive version of this series allows users to query nutrient and pyramid servings information online.

Expenditures on Children by Families

Expenditures on Children by Families provides estimates of the cost of raising children from birth through age 17 for major budgetary components.

Executive Directors of the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion

#	Executive Directors	Education	Term of Office	President(s) President of the United States The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....  served under
1	Eileen Kennedy Eileen Kennedy Eileen Kennedy is the Dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and was the first Director of USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion....	D.Sc.	1994-1997	Bill Clinton Bill Clinton William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
2	Rajen Anand	D.V.M., Ph.D.	1997-2001
3	Eric Hentges Eric Hentges Dr. Eric J. Hentges is the Executive Director of the International Life Sciences Institute, a non-profit international organization founded in 1978 to address food safety, nutrition, and toxicology issues. He was born on December 15, 1952 in Gainesville, Florida to James and Lavaun Hentges...	Ph.D.	2003-2007	George W. Bush George W. Bush George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
4	Brian Wansink Brian Wansink Brian Wansink is an American professor in the fields of consumer behavior and nutritional science. He is a former Executive Director of the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion ....	Ph.D.	2008-2009
5	obert Post (official)[Robert C. Post] Ph.D., MEd., MSc. http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/DeputyDirector.htm	January 2009 - July 2009 (Acting Executive Director)	Transition Team
6	Rajen Anand	D.V.M., Ph.D.	2009-present	Barack Obama Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...