American Dietetic Association
Location
ADA Location Headquarters 120 South River-
side Plaza, Suite 2000 Chicago, Illinois 60606 Phone:
800/877-1600
Washingtonoffice1120ConnecticutAvenueN.W.,
Suite480Washington,D.C.20036Phone:800/877-0877
ADA Website
http://www.eatright.org/Description
The American Dietetic Association (ADA) was
founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1917 during WWI by
a visionary group of women, led by Lenna F. Cooper
and ADA’s first president, Lulu C. Graves. It was
intended to aid the government in food conservation
and enhance the public’s health and nutrition. With
approximately 67,000 members, in 52 states including
the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, it has an
annual budget of 26 million. The ADA has grown to
become the nation’s largest organization of food and
nutrition professionals.
The ADA and its members are committed to help-
ing the public benefit from a healthy lifestyle. To do
this, the ADA focuses on five critical health areas
facing all Americans: Obesity and overweight, with
special emphasis on children, healthy aging, having a
safe, sustainable and nutritious food supply, nutrige-
netics and nutrigenomics, integrative medicine,
including supplements and alternative medicine.
Mission
The ADA’s Mission is ’Leading the future of die-
tetics.’ They envision the members of the ADA as the
most valued source of food and nutrition services.
ADA Members
Most of ADA’s members are registered dietitians
with a small percentage coming from dietetic techni-
cians, registered. Other members include clinical and
community dietetics professionals, consultants, food
service managers, educators, researchers, dietetic tech-
nicians and students. ADA members are able to join
focused Dietetic Practice groups within the American
Dietetic Association. These groups represent a wide
range of practice areas and interests including public
health;sports nutrition; medical nutrition therapy;
diet counseling, cholesterol reduction, diabetes, heart
and kidney disease;vegetarianism; food service man-
agement in business, hospitals, restaurants, long-term
care facilities and education systems; education of
other health-care professionals, entrepreneurism and
scientific research.
Professionals choose to belong to ADA to receive
the membership benefits. ADA provides, but not lim-
ited to, continuing education opportunities, access to
the ADA Evidence Analysis Library, subscription to
the Journal of the American Dietetic Association and
access to information and resources. Membership
dues are paid annually and range from $45-206.Nutrition Resource for the PublicThe ADA promotes nutrition information for
consumers and the media through various media.
They support a website filled with content from news
releases and consumer tips to Nutrition Fact Sheets,
consumer FAQs and the Good Nutrition Reading
List. Consumers seeking the services of a registered
dietitian can locate one through their website.
Another way they promote healthy eating to the
public was developed in 1973. Each March the National
Nutrition Month (r) campaign begins. During this
month, the ADA offers food and nutrition informa-
tion through numerous programs and services.
Relatively new to ADA are their position state-
ments which are regularly produced by the association
and it’s members. These position statements encom-
pass the multifaceted issues related to nutrition. And
are the official opinions of the ADA on issues that
affect the nutritional and health status of the public.
These statements are based on the latest scientific
research available and have a process where they are
reviewed and updated.Journal of the American Dietetic AssociationThe ADA publishes the Journal of the American
Dietetic Association. The Journal is peer-reviewed and
written by and for dietetics professionals. The journal
brings professional knowledge across the range of
research and practice issues such as: nutritional sci-
ence, medical nutrition therapy, public health nutri-
tion, food science and biotechnology, foodservice
systems, leadership and management, and dietetics
education to nutrition and dietetics professionals
throughout the world. It is the most popular peer-
reviewed periodical in the dietetics field.American Dietetic Association