Chapter 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Nutrition plays an important role in the present age of scientific investigation and discovery. Recent studies and discoveries in the field of nutrition have been considered among the greatest scientific achievements because of their far reaching effects on human progress and welfare. Credit is due to those investigators in the field of nutrition who made careful and painstaking studies which have given knowledge on how best to select, combine and prepare food to promote the health and efficiency of the individual
The world’s demand for food is becoming greater than ever. The current world population of 8 billion needs new innovations to meet the growing challenges of the poor and hungry world.
Over nutrition, obesity, and related diseases characteristic of the developed world, is becoming serious public health problems in countries with widespread food insecurity. Children suffering from under nutrition today could well be afflicted with chronic diseases of development as adults. The economic development that has led to improved food security and better health in some countries needs to be harnessed, while at the same time incentives to avert the adverse health effects of the nutrition transition need to be taken. The potential of novel foods to alleviate under nutrition is becoming more apparent. But they are unlikely to have a role in the prevention of diseases associated with over nutrition in developing countries, which use growing incomes to replace their traditional diets high in complex carbohydrates and fiber, with diets that include a greater proportion of fats (especially saturated) and sugars. More aggressive public health policies are needed to steer populations in nutrition transition towards a healthy lifestyle and diet rather than investing in particular novel foods.
In the Philippines, gains have been