What Can Communication Science Tell Us about Promoting Optimal Dietary Behavior?

Four of the 10 leading causes of death can be attributed to poor dietary behaviors. Nutrition professionals continue to stuggle with the most effective ways to deliver nutrition messages that will result in changes in dietary behavior. On July 14-15, 2005, the National Cancer Institute and the Division of Nutrition Research Coordination, both of the National Institutes of Health, hosted a meeting to explore the state of the science concerning this issue. This paper provides an introduction to that meeting and the articles that resulted from it.