United States Department of Agriculture

A report summary from the Economic Research Service

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Economic 

Research 

Service

Economic 

Research 

Report 

Number 182

January 2015

United States Department of Agriculture

Improving Health Through Nutrition 

Research: An Overview of the 

U.S. Nutrition Research System

Andrew A. Toole and Fred Kuchler

January 2015

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gov/publications/erreconomic-researchreport/err182

Andrew A. Toole and Fred Kuchler

Improving Health Through Nutrition 

Research: An Overview of the 

U.S. Nutrition Research System

What Is the Issue? 

A 2013 survey of consumers found that 45 percent were “very interested” and another 42 

percent were “somewhat interested” in learning more about foods that have health benefits. 

Private companies are responding by redirecting their research and development efforts toward 

creating nutritionally enriched conventional foods and new food products that go beyond basic 

nutrition. Governmental organizations use programs and policies to address a variety of public 

health challenges such as malnutrition and obesity. The United States has a diverse and multidisciplinary nutrition research system with numerous sponsoring organizations and thousands 

of active researchers. The body of knowledge this system produces serves as the foundation 

for progress toward better health. However, maintaining this foundation is not guaranteed; it 

depends on the resources provided by sponsoring organizations and on how research topics 

are selected and funded. This report explores the structure and function of the U.S. nutrition 

research system, with a particular emphasis on changes in Federal support. 

What Did the Study Find?

Public data on the levels and trends in research investments are limited, particularly for private 

research organizations. However, data are available on federally supported nutrition research 

from the Human Nutrition Research Information Management (HNRIM) database maintained 

by the National Institutes of Health. Analysis of the HNRIM database for the 25 years from 

1985 through 2009 (the latest year of available USDA data) revealed that Federal investments 

in nutrition research more than doubled in real terms, but the portfolio of research changed. 

The share of Federal support by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)

increased while that by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) decreased. This shift 

changed how research topics were selected and funded within the Federal portfolio. As a 

result, more research is funded through competitive grants than through intramural or formula 

funding, and a broader set of academic institutions now participates in nutrition research.

To analyze the nutrition research areas receiving Federal support, we construct a portfolio that 

shows the shares (percent of all nutrition research projects) across 6 major research areas spanning 37 topics. The analysis finds: 

• The Disease, Injury, and Conditions research area grew most in its share of Federal 

support, climbing from 40 percent in 1985 to 49 percent by 2009. This area covers a wide 
range of diseases (e.g., cardiovascular, diabetes, and cancer) and conditions (e.g., obesity, anorexia, and 

high cholesterol). 

• Within the Disease, Injury, and Conditions research area, the Obesity/Anorexia/Appetite Control topic grew 

fastest, rising from 3.6 percent of the Federal portfolio in 1985 to 13.1 percent in 2009. This topic area grew 

fastest within the portfolios of both DHHS and USDA.

• The Metabolism and Metabolic Mechanisms research area experienced the largest decline in Federal portfolio share, from 28 percent in 1985 to 20 percent in 2009. This area investigates how the human body gets 

or makes energy from food and its constituents such as carbohydrates and proteins.

• Seven out of the nine topic areas that make up the Metabolism and Metabolic Mechanisms research area 

experienced declining Federal shares between 1985 and 2009. The topics leading this decline were Vitamins, 

Minerals, and Proteins.

• The USDA provides most of the Federal support for nutrition research in the Food Sciences area, which 

includes food processing, preservation, and other food-related technologies. From 1985 to 2009, USDA 

supported 80 percent of the active projects (on average).

• The Federal portfolio share allocated to Food Sciences decreased from 10 to 4 percent in the period 

analyzed. While the Federal shares for each of the four topic areas within the Food Sciences fell, the topics 

leading the decline were Food Composition and Effects of Technology on Foods and Diets. 

The portfolio of federally supported organizations that perform nutrition research also shifted from 1985

to 2009:

• The share of Federal nutrition research projects performed by Government researchers fell from 12 percent 

in 1985 to 6 percent in 2009.

• The share of research projects performed by land-grant universities and colleges fell from 34 percent in 

1985 to 22 percent in 2009.

• The share of research performed by non-land grant universities and colleges grew from 30 percent in 1985 

to 41 percent of total nutrition projects in 2009.

• The Other category of institutions—medical schools, hospitals, and research institutes—also saw its share 

of research support grow, from 22 percent to 29 percent of all federally supported nutrition projects.

• Private companies performed just 1-2 percent of federally supported nutrition research projects.

Our review of the academic and policy literatures found no published studies that analyzed the impacts of these 

trends on the volume of research performed or the productivity of the U.S. nutrition research system. Future 

studies could analyze available indicators of research outputs, such as published articles or patents, and could 

relate those to inputs, such as project effort or financial investments.

How Was the Study Conducted?

This report synthesizes the existing literature analyzing the U.S. nutrition research system and analyzes data on 

Federal support from the Human Nutrition Research Information Management (HNRIM) database. This database is maintained by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under the auspices of the Interagency Committee 

on Human Nutrition Research. Each participating Federal agency reports to HNRIM its own data on active 

nutrition projects each year. To document the nature and trends in Federal nutrition research, this report relies 

on the number and distribution of active project counts contained in HNRIM for fiscal years 1985 through 

2009. Based on an analysis of available data on project award amounts, we concluded that project counts accurately characterize trends in Federal support for nutrition research. 

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