Food security is when individuals, families, and communities can secure nutritious food for an active, healthy life.1 It is becoming more apparent that health disparities exist among individuals across the life span living in food insecure households.2 In addition, evidence supports that policy choices (eg, The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, 1996) have the potential to negatively affect food security,3-7 and, unfortunately, the impact of both manmade (eg, September 11, 2001) and natural (eg, Hurricane Katrina, 2005) disasters on the ability of households to secure food have headlined the news. This is the context in which this issue of Topics in Clinical Nutrition (TICN) is published.

The goal of this issue of TICN is to explore the multifaceted topic of food security. Overall, three interrelated dimensions characterize food security-food availability, food access, and food utilization.8,9 These three dimensions first speak to having sufficient quantities of food consistently available for individuals and communities, encompassing issues such as food production and food assistance. They also speak to the socioeconomic aspects of food security and the universal need for adequate resources to obtain nutritious foods. Finally, the biological aspects of food usage are communicated, and the crucial relationship that food security has to health is addressed.8 Ultimately, food security potentially affects physical well-being of individuals and families through its negative impact on dietary intake and nutritional status.9 In fact, its nutritional and nonnutritional outcomes are becoming more apparent and range from poor academic performance in children10,11 to overweight and obesity in adults.12-15

Valuable resources for dietetics, nutrition, and other health professionals are provided in this issue of TICN. First, Alaimo provides an overview of food security in the United States and its impact on health and nutrition outcomes, while a Canadian perspective is provided by Tarasuk. These articles provide the foundation for readers of this issue of TICN, including key issues that affect research, education, and practice in the United States and Canada.

Next, the impact of food security across the life span is explored in three timely articles related to food security and its impact on children, women, and the elderly. Kaiser and Townsend address food security among children in the United States, while Olson discusses food security and its impact on women. Next, Hall and Brown review food security and older adults. These three articles illustrate that food insecurity affects individuals across the life span, supporting the need to address this issue in all areas of practice, from pediatrics to geriatrics.

Preparing competent practitioners, that is, teaching future dietetics, nutrition, and health professionals about the implications of food insecurity on practice and standards of care, is vital. Two manuscripts address dietetics education and food security. First, Holben reviews incorporation of food security into dietetics programs. Next, Johnson provides a detailed example of how food security is incorporated into a community nutrition class. As illustrated in these two articles, diverse, innovative educational strategies, including service-learning, are undoubtedly key to successful pedagogy.

This issue of TICN provides an excellent overview of food security to readers through contributions by international experts. Without food security, achieving the public health goals of the United States and Canada will be difficult, if not impossible. 'Immediate and long-range interventions, including adequate funding for and increased utilization of food and nutrition assistance programs, the inclusion of food and nutrition education in all programs providing food and nutrition assistance, and innovative programs to promote and support the economic self-sufficiency of individuals and families, are key to ending domestic food insecurity.'2 Alleviating food insecurity will require collaboration across disciplines; however, dietetics and nutrition professionals are poised to be leaders in these efforts, in view of their expertise.

Two articles have been included in addition to the material on food security and insecurity in this issue, Penisten and her colleagues report how focus groups were used to describe and explain the quantitative results of a community-based cardiovascular disease risk reduction program. They are able to demonstrate that some questions helped to facilitate learning of the participants. Condrasky and Marsh have kept with the food insecurity theme and described a study of food stamp use and dietary intake of low-income women in South Carolina. They found some women who were screened on food security and other parameters in 2001, and again in 2003 made slight improvements economically and decreased their use of food stamps by 2003. A review of the book Losing Weight Permanently with the Bull's Eye Food Guide, by Allison Marshall, has also been included in this issue. This book has merit for helping the public with a creative, understandable food guidance system.

A special thank-you to David Holben for assembling an interesting number of papers and viewpoints on food security/insecurity.

David H. Holben, PhD, RD, LD, Guest Editor, Associate Professor and Director

Didactic Program in Dietetics, School of Human and Consumer Sciences, Ohio University, Athens

Judith A. Gilbride, PhD, RD, FADA, CDN, Editor

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