Letter from the Editor

The importance of food and nutrition has been recognized since ancient times. The Ancient Egyptians used food as a source of medicine. The Ancient Greeks were also much concerned about nutrition and Hippocrates said, “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food”. Furthermore, the Holy Quran and the Prophetic traditions include numerous teachings with respect to food and nutrition, such as the Quranic verses: “Do not forbid the good things which God has made lawful for you and do not exceed the limits” (5:87); and “Eat and drink but not to excess” (7: 31).

In more recent times, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 asserted that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being of himself and his family, including food ...” (article 25(1)). Two years earlier, the Constitution of the World Health Organization affirmed that promoting the improvement of nutrition (article 2) was among the functions through which WHO could achieve its objective of the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health (article 1).

At the end of the 20th century, the United Nations set out the Millennium Development Goals, the very first of which is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; specifically, to reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by the year 2015. This underscores the fact that nutrition is a cornerstone that affects and defines the health of all people. Good nutrition allows us to grow, develop and function well and aspire to reach our full potential at the individual and societal level. Conversely, by making us vulnerable to disease, increased morbidity and premature death, malnutrition seriously undermines our ability to achieve this potential. Thus the paramount aim of WHO’s work in nutrition is to prevent, reduce and ultimately eliminate malnutrition worldwide and promote sustainable health and nutritional well-being of all people.

This special issue on nutrition represents a significant publication covering the key areas of nutrition. It comprises a selection of invited papers giving the regional perspective of nutrition together with some research papers which indicate the breadth of work being undertaken in our Region. Also included are a list of recent WHO publications on nutrition and a bibliography of papers related to nutrition that have been published in the EMHJ over the past 11 years.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our distinguished guest authors for enriching this important Special Issue with their valuable contributions. We hope the issue will be a useful reference on nutrition and will stimulate further work in this area of vital public health concern.

 رسالة من المحرِّر

وفي العصور الحالية، أكَّد الإعلان العالمي لحقوق الإنسان، الصادر في عام 1948، على أن (  لكل شخص الحق في مستوى من المعيشة كافٍ للمحافظة على الصحة والمعافاة له ولأسرته، بما في ذلك التغذية....) (المادة 25-1). وقبل ذلك بعامَيْن أكَّد دستور منظمة الصحة العالمية أن التشجيع على تحسين التغذية (المادة 2-ط) هو أحد الوظائف التي يمكن لمنظمة الصحة العالمية أن تحقِّق من خلالها هدف بلوغ جميع الشعوب أرفع مستوى صحي ممكن (المادة 1).