The U.S. Division of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Division of Well being & Human Companies (HHS) chosen Cristina Palacios, chair of the Division of Dietetics and Vitamin at FIU’s Robert Stempel School of Public Well being & Social Work, to serve on the 2025 Dietary Pointers Advisory Committee. The committee will advise USDA and HHS on the event of tips that kind the premise for federal diet coverage and packages, diet schooling efforts, and well being promotion and illness prevention initiatives.
USDA-HHS releases its Dietary Pointers for People each 5 years to teach policymakers and diet and well being professionals on methods to assist people and their households eat a wholesome and nutritious food plan.
“We’ll see the constructive affect of this committee not solely within the U.S. but in addition around the globe, as many international locations, as a result of restricted sources, look to the U.S. to organize their very own dietary tips,” mentioned Palacios. “These dietary tips are for everybody. Right here within the U.S., they are going to affect all diet-related packages, together with the forms of meals served from daycare facilities to highschool cafeterias, even these served in nursing houses.”
Palacios, initially from Venezuela, brings together with her experience on the dietary patterns of assorted Hispanic populations. She is one in all 20 nationally acknowledged diet and public well being specialists tasked with analyzing the connection between food plan and well being throughout all ages. The purpose is to make sure the brand new tips are related to folks with various racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.
“The current White Home Convention on Starvation, Vitamin and Well being underscored the necessity to perceive the science of diet and the position that social buildings play in the case of folks maintaining a healthy diet meals,” mentioned HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in a press launch. “The advisory committee’s work will play an instrumental position in that effort, and in serving to HHS and USDA enhance the well being and well-being of all People.”
Palacios started her tenure as chair of the Division of Dietetics and Vitamin this previous 12 months. Together with main the division, she is the principal investigator for the MetA-Bone trial, an NIH-sponsored diet analysis research that goals to assist kids develop sturdy and wholesome bones.
For over twenty years, Palacios has targeted her analysis on weight problems prevention, finding out the position of food plan and bodily exercise in Hispanic infants, kids, adolescents and pregnant girls. Consequently, she’s had expertise creating numerous dietary tips and proposals for the World Well being Group and the Pan-American Well being Group. She is an lively member of the American Society of Vitamin.
“Our FIU is the main Hispanic-serving establishment within the U.S., and having Cristina Palacios be a voice for the Hispanic group on this committee will actually make a distinction within the lives of many,” mentioned Tomás R. Guilarte, dean of Stempel School. “We’re extremely happy with her contributions to the well being and well-being of individuals in our group, nationally, and around the globe.”
