Nutrition

Last update: 23 July 2008,
by Maureen Bell

Searching Medline

Remember that Medline has a Thesaurus of terms - MeSH (Medical Subject Headings), a controlled vocabulary used for indexing articles in Medline. MeSH terminology provides a consistent way to retrieve information where authors may use different terminology for the same concepts.

You will find material on diet and nutrition in Medline, but you will need to be aware of the thesaurus (MeSH) terms used to search for topics in this area. Below are some examples of the language Medline uses to describe the concepts in this field.

MeSH - Food Habits

MeSH - Food Industry

MeSH - Nutrition Disorders

MeSH - Nutrition Physiology

MeSH - Nutrition Policy

Many topics in MeSH have hierarchies of more specific subcategories or related terms. The indentations in the lists reflect the structure of the hierarchy, and the + signs at the end of terms indicate that there is a further hierarchy of terms not displayed here. Any of these terms can be searched individually, or you can "explode" terms to search sections of the list.

Try using the search structure below to search for articles on food habits and obesity.

COMBINE

Food Habits (MeSH term)
The science of food, the nutrients and other substances contained therein, their action, interaction, and balance in relation to health and disease.

AND

Obesity (MeSH term)
Increase in body weight beyond skeletal and physical standards as the result of an excessive accumulation of fat in the body. More than two times the ideal weight is considered OBESITY, MORBID

PubMed Search Formulation

food habits [majr] AND obesity[majr] AND english[lang]

This search strategy uses the headings food habits and obesity. The section in the square brackets includes majr - which focuses the search on articles where the subject is a major issue in the article. The search is then limited to articles which are in English or which have English abstracts.

Click here to see how it works. PubMed Search.

PubMed's default setting is to "explode" all terms, and so this search will include all the subcategories of obesity listed in MeSH.

Obesity in Diabetes
Obesity, Morbid
Pickwickian Syndrome
Prader-Willi Syndrome

Australian Sources

Arbor Nutrition Guide
Editor-in-Chief of the Arbor Nutrition Guide is Dr. Tony Helman, a physician and nutritionist based in Australia.

Australian Alcohol Guidelines : Health Risks and Benefits
National Health and Medical Research Council, 2001.

Dietary Guidelines for Australians
NHMRC Dietary Guidelines for Australian Adults and Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents in Australia incorporating the Infant Feeding Guidelines for Health Workers.

Eat Well Australia: An Agenda for Action for Public Health Nutrition 2000/2010
Developed by the Strategic Inter-Governmental Nutrition Alliance of the National Public Health Partnership. From the Strategic Inter-Governmental Nutrition Alliance (SIGNAL) web site.

Eating into the Future
Eating into the future: Australia's first conference on food, health and the environment. Adelaide : Eat Well SA, 1999. (Available in multiple formats, including .pdf)

eMJA: Articles on Nutrition
A collection of articles on this subject from the Medical Journal of Australia.

eMJA Nutrition Supplement - Children
Recommendations for nutrition and physical activity in Australian children. Medical Journal of Australia 2000; 173: ( 3 Suppl)

eMJA: Nutrition and physical activity needs of women aged 40 and over
Identifying and promoting the specific nutrition and physical activity needs of women aged 40 and over. Medical Journal of Australia 2000; 173: (9 Suppl)

Food and Nutrition Publications List (AIHW)

Food Safety Index
A selection of resources on nutrition and food safety from the Department of Health, South Australia.

Food and Nutrition List (AIHW)
Publications from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand: 20th Australian Total Diet Survey
A total diet survey of pesticide residues and contaminants.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand: The Code

Foodwatch
An Australian site from Catherine Saxelby, a consultant nutritionist.

The Glycemic Index
This is the website for the glycemic index and international GI database which is based in the Human Nutrition Unit, School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences, University of Sydney. The website is updated and maintained by the University's GI Group which includes research scientists and dietitians working in the area of glycemic index, health and nutrition including research into diet and weight loss, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and PCOS and headed by Professor Jennie Brand-Miller.

The Health Report - Food and Nutrition
Transcripts from Radio National's Health Report, with Norman Swan.

Healthy Eating Club
Containing a wide range of resources for health professionals, the general public, students, and children HEC is headed by a medical nutritionist, Professor M Wahlqvist, and nutrition scientist/dietitian, Dr Anigone Kouris.

National Health and Medical Research Council. Publications. Nutrition and Diet
Publications are available electronically as .pdf files.

Nutrition and Healthy Eating
From the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aging's Population Health Division, this site contains links to policy documents, recommendations, and other publications of relevance to nutrition and healthy eating. Additional resources can be found at Population Health Division - Publications List - Physical Activity/Nutrition resources

Primary Prevention of Chronic Diseases: The Role of Nutrition
Public Health Nutrition Background Paper. Queensland Health, Public Health Services, June 2003.

Status of Indicators and Monitoring of Nutrition and Food Behaviour in South Australia
A report prepared for Health Promotion SA, December 2003, by Tiffany Gill, Kylie Holden, Anne Taylor, and Patricia Carter. South Australia, Department of Human Services, Population Research and Outcome Studies Unit, Strategic Planning and Research Branch.

Towards National Indicators for Food and Nutrition: An AIHW View
(AIHW)
Reporting Against the Dietary Guidelines for Australians. Australian Institute for Health and Welfare, February 2006.

The use of antibiotics in food-producing animals: antibiotic-resistant bacteria in animals and humans
Report of the Joint Expert Advisory Committee on Antibiotic Resistance (JETACAR). Canberra, Commonwealth Dept. of Health and Aged Care and Commonwealth Dept. of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, [c1999]

Waiter, there's a gene in my food
The ABC Science Lab's coverage of the First Consensus Conference on Gene Technology in the Food Chain, held in Canberra, March 10-12, 1999.

Overseas Sources

America's Eating Habits: Changes and Consequences.
This book, published in 1999 by the US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, USDA ERS, offers a comprehensive review of eating habits and the state of nutrition in the United States.

Bad Bug Book: Introduction to Foodborne Pathogenic Microorganisms and Natural Toxins
This handbook provides basic facts regarding foodborne pathogenic microorganisms and natural toxins. It brings together in one place information from the Food & Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service, and the National Institutes of Health.

The Blonz Guide to Nutrition, Food Science and Health
This site is maintained by Dr Ed Blonz, an American nutritionist. It contains a wide range of resources on nutrition, fitness and health.

bmj.com Collected Resources : Other nutrition and metabolism
Collections of articles on these subjects from the BMJ.

Breakfast and Learning in Children
Proceedings of a symposium, April 22, 1999. Sponsored by the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, U. S. Department of Agriculture.

British Nutrition Foundation: Information

The Canned Food Information Centre On-Line
The CFIC is a British organisation which provides information on all aspects of cans and canned food, from the history of the can and the latest product innovations to nutritional information, to a wide range of audiences, from the general public to teachers, professional bodies, the media and industry.

Carbohydrates in Human Nutrition
This is the Report of a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation, Rome, 14-18 April ,1997. (FAO Food and Nutrition Paper No. 66)

CDC's Program on Nutrition and Physical Activity
From the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) Food and Consumer Information Page
This site is attached to the U.S Food and Drug Administration. Selected external sources are listed under Non-FDA Sources of Food & Nutrition Information .

Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) Publications
The full text of a wide variety of documents from the United States Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion is available here.

Cholesterol Low Down - American Heart Association
Working in partnership with Pfizer Inc. since 1998, the American Heart Association has brought the public awareness program "The Cholesterol Low Down" to the public with a number of outreach programs, including public- service announcements and helpful resources, including cookbooks and fact sheets.

The Coffee Science Information Centre: Coffee and Caffeine Health Information
CoSIC, the pan-European Coffee Science Information Centre, was established in the UK in 1990 by ISIC, the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee which is based in Switzerland.

DASH Diet
The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute in the United States.

Diet Links
From the Health Care Information Resources list, McMaster University, links for patients, their families and friends, and their health care workers.

Dietary Guidelines for Americans
From the National Agriculture Library Food and Nutrition Research Service. This complete text can be downloaded.

Dietary Supplements: A Framework for Evaluating Safety
Committee on the Framework for Evaluating the Safety of Dietary Supplements, Food and Nutrition Board, and Board on Life Sciences. Washington D.C., National Academies Press, 2005.

Eat for Life: The Food and Nutrition Board's Guide to Reducing Your Risk of Chronic Disease
Catherine E. Woteki and Paul R. Thomas, Editors. Committee on Diet and Health, Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences. Washington, D.C., National Academy Press, c1992

The EPIC project
EPIC, the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, was designed to investigate the relationships between diet, nutritional status, lifestyle and environmental factors and the incidence of cancer and other chronic diseases. EPIC is the largest study of diet and health ever undertaken, having recruited over half a million (520,000) people in ten European countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Evolution of Evidence for Selected Nutrient and Disease Relationships
Committee on Examination of the Evolving Science of Dietary Supplements, Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine. Washington, D.C., 2002.

Food and Consumer Protection Division's Electronic Book Catalogue
From the Food and Consumer Protection Division of the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). Many of the Division's publications are available free on the web.

Food and Nutrition Information
Information from the American Dietetics Association.

Food and Nutrition Information Center: Dietary Guidance -- Food Guide Pyramid
From the United States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library, this site provides a basic guide to food choices.

Food Pyramids: Nutrition Source, Harvard School of Public Health
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have developed healthy eating guidelines and an alternative to the US food pyramid that, when followed closely, significantly reduced the risk for major chronic diseases. The researchers rigorously assessed the diets of more than 100,000 men and women and found that the reduction in risk was nearly twice as great for those whose diet met the new guidelines when compared to those whose eating patterns reflected the current USDA dietary guidelines. The findings can be found in the December 2002 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Handbook for Defining and Setting up a Food Security Information and Early Warning System (FSIEWS)
From the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, Rome 2000.

Hardin MD : Nutrition
Links to web directories that list nutrition resources.

Health Canada. Reports and Publications. Food and Nutrition

IFIC - Food Safety & Nutrition Information
From the International Food Information Council Foundation.

Index of Food and Nutrition Internet Resources
Compiled by the Food and Nutrition Information Center Agriculture Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements Database (IBIDS)
IBIDS is a database of published, international, scientific literature on dietary supplements that is available to the public free of charge. The purpose of this database is to assist both scientists and the general public in locating credible, scientific literature on dietary supplements. The computer interface was designed to be user-friendly so individuals with all levels of expertise may use it easily. For those unfamiliar with dietary supplement terminology, a drop down list of standard keywords is available.

Mayo Clinic Food and Nutrition Center
Includes a comprehensive library of diet and nutrition information.

MedlinePlus: Food, Nutrition and Metabolism Topics
Resources from the National Library of Medicine in the United States.

Mendel in the Kitchen: Scientist's View of Genetically Modified Food
By Nina V. Fedoroff and Nancy Marie Brown, Washington, D.C., Joseph Henry Press, 2004.

National Academies Press: Food and Nutrition
Links to National Academy Press publications on food and nutrition for which the full text is available free online.

Nutrition and Health
From the British Nutrition Foundation information on a range of topics from vegetarianism to diet and cancer.

Nutrition Fact Sheets (American Dietetics Association)

Nutrition Source, Harvard School of Public Health
This site aims to explore the latest science about healthy eating for adults.

Nutrition Through Life
From the British Nutrition Foundation, diet information for all stages of life from babies to older adults.

NUTRITION.GOV
NUTRITION.GOV is a United States government federal resource, giving access to all online federal government information on nutrition. It provides easy access to accurate scientific information on nutrition, healthy eating, physical activity, and food safety.

Prevention of Micronutrient Deficiencies: Tools for Policymakers and Public Health Workers
Christopher P. Howson, Eileen T. Kennedy, and Abraham Horwitz, Editors; Committee on Micronutrient Deficiencies, Institute of Medicine. Washington D.C., National Academy Press, 1998.

Science.gov topic Food, Nutrition, and Metabolism
Science.gov provides wide public access and a unified search of the U.S. government’s vast stores of scientific and technical information. It is an interagency initiative of a number of U.S. government science organizations.

WHO | Biotechnology (GM foods)

www.FoodSafety.gov - Gateway to Government Food Safety Information
This site is maintained by FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and provides links to selected government food safety-related information.