Malnutrition

  • Congress: Close the gap between funding for nutrition research and the toll diet-related disease takes on Americans (Stat)

    by Bill Frist

    STAT | You are what you eat. Every year, new scientific discoveries make clear that food is critical to health. In recent years, nutrition research trials have shown that a Mediterranean diet reduces cardiovascular disease; ultra-processed foods increase weight gain; omega-3 fatty acids improve IQ in preterm babies; cocoa prevents heart attacks; and vitamin D supplements do — well, almost nothing. But many…

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  • The White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health is an opportunity for transformational change (Nature Food)

    by Bill Frist

    NATURE FOOD | More than 50 years ago, President Richard Nixon convened the 1969 White House Conference on Food, Nutrition and Health, bringing together all the agencies of the US government, Congress and other stakeholders to address widespread hunger in the United States. That conference — chaired and organized by Dr Jean Mayer, the founder…

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  • Commissioner Califf needs to put the F back in FDA (Stat)

    by Bill Frist

    STAT | Robert Califf is taking the reins as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration with the nation in a nutrition crisis. Americans are living shorter, less-healthy lives due to the foods they are being sold. The new commissioner can meet this challenge by harnessing the FDA’s effective but underused food-related regulatory powers, which were…

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  • Rethinking How And What We Eat With Dr. Mark Hyman (Forbes)

    by Bill Frist

    FORBES | If Dean Ornish is the father of lifestyle medicine, Dr. Mark Hyman is the food as medicine master. With his New York TimesNYT+1% best-selling books, a top-rated podcast, “The Doctor’s Farmacy,” and visionary leadership of the Center for Functional Medicine at Cleveland Clinic, Hyman is changing the conversation about the nation’s relationship with food to improve…

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  • Make water a top global priority. It’s the best, cheapest way to save lives (USA Today)

    by Bill Frist

    USA TODAY | This summer has seen the unprecedented and simultaneous outbreak of six of eight diseases posing the greatest threats to public health, according to the World Health Organization. You’d think that after the alarmingly fast spread of Ebola in West Africa just a few years ago, we’d have learned our lesson. Instead, the…

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  • Diet quality should become a core SNAP objective (The Hill)

    by Bill Frist

    THE HILL | As Congress considers reauthorizing SNAP as part of the 2018 Farm Bill, we believe it’s time to make nutrition a top priority for the program. First, we request that diet quality become a core SNAP objective. Specifically, we recommend eliminating sugar-sweetened beverages from the list of items that can be purchased with SNAP in…

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  • Notes from the Road: Hadza and Clean Water

    by Bill Frist

    Tracy and I are in Africa for two-weeks: Tanzania, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya. The trip will bring together work from Hope Through Healing Hands (global community health) and The Nature Conservancy (intersection nature and health) in conjunction with Pathfinder International (global women’s health). As chairman of Hope Through Healing Hands, I will explore how we can globally impact peoples’ well-being and…

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  • Updated Nutrition Labels Can Make Us Healthier Consumers (Forbes)

    by Bill Frist

    FORBES | As health-minded consumers of food, I think we all deserve to know what is in the packaged food we buy. Giving consumers information to make their own choices sounds as American as apple pie, but somehow in today’s fractured political system, it’s become a major point of contention. For the health of our…

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  • Healthy Foods Are Good For Business And Deserve The Support Of President-Elect Trump

    by Bill Frist

    At the start of a new year, we often find ourselves making resolutions to eat healthier and get active (I know I’m one of those people!). But the good news is, America’s interest in healthier foods has become a year-round trend, not just a New Year’s fad. More than 66% of shoppers say they want…

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  • It’s time for the U.S. to lead on combating global malnutrition (The Hill)

    by Bill Frist

    THE HILL | One single public health crisis accounts for nearly half (45%) of all child deaths under age five. Every 4 seconds, a person dies from this cause – approximately 21,000 every day. And shockingly, nearly one in nine people globally is affected.  What is this epidemic that has taken so many lives? That has…

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  • The Food We Eat Daily That Leads To Poor Heart Health For Our Children (Forbes)

    by Bill Frist

    FORBES | Earlier this year, I called attention to the dangers added sugars pose to cardiovascular health and other health outcomes.  In the months since, many people have told me how surprised they’ve been to learn about the sugar hidden in their healthy morning yogurt or afternoon energy bar.  Frankly, I was too.  And this lack of food literacy…

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  • Congress Must Act Now to Improve School Nutrition (The Hill)

    by Bill Frist

    THE HILL | While headlines harp that the U.S. is a nation “hopelessly divided,” there is something lawmakers can band together on: forging a solution to our obesity epidemic.  In addition to being one of the greatest health threats our nation has ever faced, it is a terrible burden for employers, who are forced to…

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  • Cutting Sugar for Better Health

    by Bill Frist

    On a trip this month to the U.K., I noticed many of their food and beverage products labeled “No Added Sugar,” and the message floods the airwaves. Britain has already caught on to the evils of hidden sugars, and has been loudly making it known to consumers. America should follow suit. Reducing sugar intake isn’t…

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  • Making Health Convenient

    by Bill Frist

    I believe one of the secrets of achieving good population health is to make the healthy choice the easy choice, and I’m so pleased to learn of businesses in Tennessee who are working to make that a reality. Tri-Star Services’ Twice Daily convenience stores are making a strong committment to offering  healthy food and drink…

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  • The Worst Kept Secret in Healthcare

    by Bill Frist

    For many of our health problems, the solutions are not a secret: eat well, move, make healthy choices. Of course sometimes that is easier said than done. Our physical and social environments–where we live, what kind of emotional support we have, our access to fresh food and healthcare–determine more of our healthcare than what our…

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  • We Must All Play a Role in Ending Childhood Obesity (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)

    by Bill Frist

    ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION | We all want our kids and grandkids to grow up happier and healthier than we did. Instead, today’s children are the first generation of young Americans to face the prospect of living their entire lives in poorer health and dying younger than previous generations. The reason is no mystery. Too many…

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  • Real Conversation on Children

    by Bill Frist

    With WK “Big Kenny” Alphin and Dr. Randy Wykoff, I am launching #Conversation2015, a look at the opportunities we have to make dramatic changes through compassion and caring. Read the introduction to the project here and the overview of children here. Then join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook: #Conversation2015 Over six million children die per year before they…

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  • Retrospective on Rwanda

    by Bill Frist

    I’ve been home from Rwanda and Kenya only a few days and I’m already on another flight, heading back to Aspen, this time for the Aspen Ideas Festival Spotlight: Health, co-sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It’s on flights that I have time to reflect on a few takeaways, drawn from the myriad impressions…

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  • Off to Rwanda: Considering Child Nutrition

    by Bill Frist

    I was in Aspen earlier this week working on some of the challenges facing healthcare and the health industry in the US, but it’s time to switch gears. Sunday, I leave for Rwanda to lead a one week group trip with my friend Dr. Paul Farmer to see some of the work being done by…

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  • Building a Healthier America

    by Bill Frist

    Last week I joined the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA)’s Building a Healthier Future Summit. It was a fun meeting with lots of good food and guest appearances by Sesame Street’s Abby Cadabby and Doug E. Fresh. I’m a firm believer that we must make the healthy choice the easy choice to change behavior…

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  • A Crucial Moment for Global Nutrition

    by Bill Frist

    (The Hill, May 22, 2013) On June 8, the United Kingdom, under the leadership of Prime Minister David Cameron, will host “Nutrition for Growth,” a high-level meeting where donor governments, including our own, will pledge funding and other commitments to address undernutrition and its devastating impact on the long-term health and productivity of millions of…

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