Women's health and nutrition

Within the past ten years, women's health has evolved to a much broader par adigm, beyond reproductive issues. From a physiological perspective, women' s health now refers to the prevention, diagnosis, and management of conditi ons or diseases that may be unique to women, be more prevalent in women, or manifest differently in women than in men. Women's health encompasses emot ional, social, cultural, spiritual, and physical well-being. It is determin ed by the social, political, and economic context of women's lives. Nutriti on is involved in the etiology or treatment of half of the ten leading caus es of death in women. The incidence of osteoporosis and extremes in body we ight are approaching epidemic proportions in women. This position paper rev iews the following health problems in relation to women: cardiovascular dis ease, cancer, osteoporosis, weight, and diabetes mellitus. Dietetics profes sionals are in the perfect position to understand the issues surrounding wo men's health in order to deliver a message to women that will allow them to make wise decisions about their health. Nutrition is a critical component of risk reduction and treatment, and must be included in clinical and preve ntive services for women. Dietetics professionals must work to increase the ir knowledge about women's health issues, to promote health and education p rograms, to influence policy makers, to deliver the highest-quality medical nutrition therapy, and to be proactive in documenting the effectiveness of outcomes-based research.