10 questions for Marion Nestle

From THE INSTITUTE FOR INTEGRATIVE NUTRITION in NYC

Marion Nestle, oft-quoted nutrition professor and author (bio below) from New York University answers 10 questions about food. The question were posed by students at NYU in a post-grad certificate program.

1. Have there been any studies done at the schools that have changed their lunch programs that show a correlation between a student's diet and their standardized test scores? If so, can you elaborate on the results?

They may exist but I am not aware of such studies. It’s early yet in the school food movement. Studies a long time ago demonstrated that children learned better and did better on tests if they had something to eat during the school day. I think it would be difficult to design studies to find the kind of correlation suggested by the question because there are too many other factors that affect test scores (family background, health status, income, etc).

2. The health concerns surrounding trans fats and high fructose corn syrup are alarming. Can you comment on how the FDA continues to allow them to be used in foods despite scientific evidence of their harmful effects?

Trans fats are only slightly worse than saturated fats in raising heart disease risk; they are not a poison. Heart disease rates are declining in the United States and have been declining since the 1950s when margarines were consumed at peak levels. High fructose corn syrup is just sugars—glucose and fructose—both found in many fruits and vegetables and both part of common table sugar. The issues with both trans fats and HFCS have to do with quantity. The FDA doesn’t regulate quantity.

3. What can be done about completely eliminating these substances from our food supply?

Trans fats essentially have disappeared from processed foods and did so as soon as the FDA required them to be labeled. Their retention in cooking oils won’t last much longer. I expect them to be gone from the food supply in a year or so. High fructose corn syrup is another matter. It has almost the same sugar composition as table sugar—sucrose—and nobody expects sucrose to be eliminated from the food supply. This is a quantity problem, not so much a quality problem. High fructose corn syrup is cheaper than sucrose. If corn is used to make fuel ethanol, the price of high fructose corn syrup will go up and companies will go back to using sucrose. From a health standpoint, it won’t make any real difference.

4. Do you think balance, variety and moderation are inappropriate principles to follow because this is an overly simplified model? Please explain why you are not a proponent of these guidelines.

I think they are fine principles in principle, but in practice they are used by the food industry to argue that any food can fit into a healthful diet and that there is no such thing as a good or a bad food. I think it’s healthier to eat fruits and vegetables than junk foods and the balance/variety/moderation approach doesn’t make that point clear.

5. Why do you believe the federal dietary guidelines have become so complicated?

Nutrition science tends to focus on single nutrients out of their food, dietary, and lifestyle contexts. We require 40 or 50 nutrients and if you take them one at a time, things get complicated. Complexity keeps the public confused about diet and health and the idea that it’s better to eat some foods than others. Dietary guidelines are a committee report. Once a committee is appointed, it has to make changes in previous sets of guidelines or what’s the point of meeting? It takes a lot of work to keep a committee from making things more complicated.

6. How do you feel about organic foods? Are you in favor of them?

I am highly in favor of organic foods for environmental and health reasons. They are far better for the environment. There may not be strong evidence that pesticides harm us but it is hard to believe they are good for us.

7. What 3 things do you think are most important for us to share with the public in order to improve health in this country?

(1) Larger portions have more calories and the easiest way to control calories is to cut portion sizes, (2) the job of the food industry is to sell food products, not act as health or social service agencies, (3) everything about food is political and food choices are a great way to start exercising democratic rights: vote with your fork!

8. Do you have any specific recommendations for making health and nutrition into a larger issue on election day?

I think making the connections between farm policy and its costs in nutrition and health are worth promoting. Obesity is not just a problem for individuals; it is a problem for society.

9. Are there specific resources or organizations you recommend for learning more about changing school food programs?

I’ve been keeping a list. Here it is:

School food resources:
*Books: Ann Cooper and Lisa Holmes, Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children, Collins, 2006. Robert Surles, Chef Bobo’s Good Food Cookbook, Meredith, 2004.

Online resources:
* betterschoolfood@aol.com
* http://www.foodchange.org/#
* http://www.edibleschoolyard.org/homepage.html
*www.eatfood.biz
*http://www.healthylunches.org/
*http://www.greenearthinstitute.org/nutrition/advocacy_organizing.html

PCRM Guide
*http://support.pcrm.org/site/DocServer/guide_healthy_school_meals.pdf?docID=201&autologin=true&AddInterest=1441&JServSessionIdr006=60cpv3lit4.app8b

* CSPI State Report
http://www.cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy/sf_reportcard.pdf
*Action for Health Kids school report
http://www.actionforhealthykids.org/pdf/CSW%20Report%20FINAL%208-18-06.pdf

10. What do you think the strongest ways are for us to “vote with our forks?”

Support organic, sustainably, and locally grown food. Get involved with organizations that work on food issues. Become your own lobbyist for issues you believe in. Do something to make the world a better place.

Marion Nestle is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, in the department that she chaired from 1988 through 2003. Her degrees include a Ph.D. in molecular biology and an M.P.H. in public health nutrition, both from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on analysis of the scientific, social, cultural, and economic factors that influence the development, implementation, and acceptance of federal dietary guidance policies. She is the author of What to Eat: An Aisle-by-Aisle Guide to Savvy Food Choices and Good Eating (North Point Press, 2006), Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health (University of California Press, 2002) and Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism (University of California Press, 2003), and is co-editor of Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Food and Nutrition (McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, 2004).

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