A Conversation with Marion Nestle: Straight Talk About Obesity, Nutrition, and Food Policy

Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH, does not lack for opinion about the role of the food industry in the etiology of America's obesity crisis. She freely expresses her point of view as one of the most outspoken and influential voices in the national debate on public health nutrition and food policy. Dr Nestle has devoted much of her professional life to the nutrition issues that individuals, institutions, and policymakers are struggling with today: how to make better choices about what we eat. Dr Nestle is the Paullette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University. Her degrees include a PhD in molecular biology and an MPH in public health nutrition, both from University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on the analysis of scientific, social, cultural, and economic factors that influence dietary recommendation and practices. She is the author of three books, Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism, and her latest book, What to Eat (May 2006), a guide to navigating the supermarket and making sensible food choices. In April 2006, Dr Nestle visited Kaiser Permanente (KP) in Oakland at the invitation of the KP Institute for Health Policy. She sat down with a group of about 30 KP practitioners and staff to talk about food policy and the connections with nutrition and health. The following is an edited transcript of her remarks.