The contribution of nutrition research to the control of undernutrition: the Indian experience.

Since diseases directly related to undernutrition are the major public health problems of India, nutrition research in the country has been largely directed towards elucidating their causes and identifying the most feasible methods for their prevention and control. This effort is an interdisciplinary exercise carried out in the laboratory, the clinic, and the field, with close interaction among biochemists, clinicians, and epidemiologists. Some of the identified solutions have found practical application; but, as in other areas of scientific endeavor, a gap exists between the acquisition of knowledge in the laboratories and its application in the field. Today, thanks to research efforts of the last few decades, we have the knowledge with which most diseases related to undernutrition can be prevented. Unfortunately, however, we do not always have the means of applying this knowledge under real-life conditions in the field. Even so, nutrition research during the last few decades has contributed significantly to the amelioration of undernutrition among poor communities in India.