Progress Made in Federal Human Nutrition Research Planning and Coordination; Some Improvements Needed

Gao ID: CED-82-56 May 21, 1982

In response to a congressional request, GAO reported on the planning and coordination of federally supported human nutrition research.

Considerable progress has been made within and among federal human nutrition research departments and agencies since Congress called for improved coordination in the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977. The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has been a major contributor to, and a catalyst for, improved coordination of nutrition research and has set the groundwork for developing an improved federal coordinated nutrition research planning system. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services have established nutrition coordinators and policy and coordination groups to deal with crosscutting nutrition issues. GAO believes that these coordination efforts should be continued and maintained as some of the federal departments reorganize or revise their nutrition research programs. Coordination within USDA is critically needed because of the recent decentralization of its nutrition information functions from its nutrition research functions. Nutrition research departments and agencies need to more clearly plan their research efforts with others through a federal nutrition research plan. An OSTP report on human nutrition research is a first step toward developing such a plan, but the six areas discussed in the report should be developed and expanded into a single research plan which would include an assessment of needs, priorities, and strategies. Existing agency nutrition research plans are either too narrow in scope or are missing certain key planning components.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Brian P. Crowley Team: General Accounting Office: Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division Phone: (202) 512-9450


The Justia Government Accountability Office site republishes public reports retrieved from the U.S. GAO These reports should not be considered official, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Justia.