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Faculty Achievements
DR. LINDA HOUTKOOPER
A nutrition expert at the University of Arizona has been appointed to the science board of the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition.
Linda Houtkooper is a nutritional sciences professor and associate director for the Arizona Cooperative Extension.
The council promotes good diet and exercise. Houtkooper will serve for three years as an expert who can inform the council about research in nutrition.
She said she is excited about teaching Americans about nutrition.
"We've drifted away from that vision of being strong, healthy people," Houtkooper said.
What is it about nutrition that's so interesting to you?
What attracted me to the field was the research that shows the kinds of choices that we make in our life in being physically fit and eating well totally improves our quality of life. You feel better, you decrease your risk for chronic diseases, and it makes life more fun. I wanted to help advance what we know in this field.
In your career as a nutrition researcher, what's the most important thing you've learned?
It's never too late to invest in yourself.
At any age, people have the capacity to improve their physical activity and nutrition practices.
The last major study I was involved with was about bone health in post-menopausal women. They were able to maintain or improve their bone density if they followed a planned exercise and eating program.
Why should government have a role in telling people about diet and exercise?
Research shows that good quality, preventive health-care programs are effective.
If people can prevent having major chronic diseases develop in their life, it will have an effect on the expenses we have in treating diseases.
I'm interested in working on public policy to combine messages about healthy eating practices and physical activity. A lot of policy promotes one or the other.
[original artcle at AZStarNet]
