Position Papers from the Academy of Nutrition Sciences
9/1/24
Not to be confused with the Nutrition Society’s recently launched Academy, the Academy of Nutrition Sciences (ANS) was established in 2019 to be an authoritative voice advancing and promoting evidence-based nutrition science for our discipline, including those engaged in research, education and training, clinical practice, and nutrition science communication. Its mission is to champion nutrition science, enhancing its impact on policy and health for public benefit. It results from a longstanding collaboration between its founder members: the Association for Nutrition, British Dietetic Association, British Nutrition Foundation, and Nutrition Society.
Outputs from the Academy
Position Papers, published open access in peer reviewed journals, are the main outputs to date. These are aligned with our strategic priorities and present the Academy’s formal position on a major topic, identifying challenges and opportunities, and making recommendations.
ANS Position Paper: Evidence for Dietary Recommendations
The first Position Paper, published in December 2020 in the British Journal of Nutrition, focused on the nature of the evidence base underpinning dietary recommendations and the systematic processes used by expert panels to ensure that rigour, relevance and consistency are brought to their conclusions. Click here for an overview
In addition to the full paper, there were accompanying editorials in Nutrition Bulletin and the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, which highlight the Academy’s recommendations. The Position Paper also addresses some of the challenges inherent in studying diet-disease relationships and lessons learned over the past 45 years of evidence-based policy making in dietary prevention of non-communicable diseases, such as cancers and cardiovascular diseases. One such challenge concerns the investigation of the biological mechanisms underlying diet-disease relationships through experimental studies. A recent publication by one of the Position Paper’s authors, discusses this in detail and it is also explored in a blog.
ANS Position Paper: Evidence for Health Claims
The second Position Paper on use of nutrition evidence, published in the British Journal of Nutrition in November 2022, focuses on the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation and use of evidence to support health claims for foods. Click here for an overview . A blog discussing why health professionals need to know about the processes in place to regulate the use of such claims is available and accompanying editorials appeared in Nutrition Bulletin and the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics. These editorials summarise the recommendations and highlight the implications of the Regulation for nutrition and dietetic professionals.
ANS Position Paper: Evidence for Nutrition Interventions for Individuals
A third Position Paper will be published shortly, examining how evidence is used to guide individualised nutrition interventions in clinical practice. This is primarily achieved through the development of clinical practice guidelines, which are systematically developed statements that attempt to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice, guiding the practitioner and individual to implement treatments for specific clinical circumstances based upon the best available evidence. Accompanying editorials are also in preparation.
Dr Judy Buttriss