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Women in Nutrition Science: A Biographical Review

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Abstract

Purpose of the Review

The field of nutrition is in debt to a cadre of women who led the field through its formative years. This review highlights the contributions of these women that are gleaned through analysis of biographical articles published in The Journal of Nutrition.

Recent Findings

Forces emerged during the development of nutrition science, such as departments of home economics and the majority-female field of dietetics, that suggest women might be well represented in biographical articles in the field of nutrition. However, just 29 women have been the subject of biographical articles in The Journal of Nutrition representing 14.3% of the 202 biographical articles published to date — a percentage lower than scientific journals overall.

Summary

This review explores these biographies to identify factors that facilitated and hindered careers and to highlight the manifold scientific contributions of women in nutrition science. This review looks toward the past to provide perspective and inspiration for those working in the field of nutrition today.

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References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: •   Of importance •• Of major importance

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Funding

CJK was supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases grant 5T32DK007017.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Digestive Health Institute, Cooper University Health Care, Camden, NJ, USA

    Apeksha Shah

  2. University Health – Truman Medical Center, Kansas City, MO, USA

    Ajanta J. Raman

  3. University of Missouri –Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, USA

    Dustin R. Neel

  4. Section of Digestive Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Caleb J. Kelly

Authors
  1. Apeksha Shah
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  2. Ajanta J. Raman
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  3. Dustin R. Neel
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  4. Caleb J. Kelly
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Caleb J. Kelly.

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Conflict of Interest

Dr. Kelly reports grants from National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, during the conduct of the study.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Shah, A., Raman, A.J., Neel, D.R. et al. Women in Nutrition Science: A Biographical Review. Curr Nutr Rep 12, 224–230 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13668-023-00455-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13668-023-00455-2

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