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6 Summary and Closing Remarks Presenter: John Suttie Clearly the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) are important and widely used. The process for their development is a critical activity worthy of the serious consideration given by this audience. I would like to thank all of you for your thoughtful discussions. On behalf of the planning commit- tee, I would like to thank Dr. Christine Taylor, Dr. Linda Meyers, and all of the Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) and Institute of Medicine (IOM) staff who took the planning committeeâs input and created this successful meeting, especially Sandra Amamoo-Kakra, Heather Del Valle, and Gerri Kennedo. The immediate next steps will be to make the presentersâ slides avail- able on the workshop website (http://www.iom.edu/driworkshop2007). Also, a preliminary draft of the workshop summary will be issued in the next several months. I am certain that the many themes we have heard throughout the workshop will be reflected in this summary of the presenta- tions and discussions. In terms of future action, the most important outcome will be to foster and guide the needed conversations among our government sponsors, the IOM leadership, and relevant stakeholders so that the next tasks can be identified and plans can be made to fulfill those tasks. The workshop par- ticipants have given us a wealth of information. We will digest and organize that information in a thoughtful and collaborative manner. 151
152 THE DEVELOPMENT OF DRIs 1994â2004 Presenter: Paul Coates I am pleased to offer closing remarks on behalf of the U.S. and Ca- nadian sponsors. Let me begin by saying that we owe a debt of thanks to those who devoted their time and intellect to the development of the DRIs. Furthermore, we wish to acknowledge the valuable role that the IOM has played, along with the study committees, in informing public health nutri- tion policy through these nutrient reference values. Both governments have benefited by having a sound scientific basis available for making appropri- ate nutrition policy decisions. Moreover, as you may know, the two gov- ernments have played a role in the development of these reference values. Overall, we can learn much from one anotherâand the hope is that these collaborations may serve as a starting point or even a model for similar developments around the world. The U.S.âCanadian collaboration began with joint sponsorship of the development of the DRIs in the early 1990s. Both countries have DRI steer- ing committees, and active joint discussions are a key component of our liaison activities. The overall effort has resulted in a series of important documentsâthe DRI volumes that have guided policy and informed dietary recommendations. More recently, the Canadian government sponsored the IOM preparation of a single-volume guide to the DRIs (IOM, 2006), pub- lished in English and French. The French version provides access to the 30 percent of Canadians for whom French is their first language. Another collaborative effort is the recent project to synthesize and pub- lish the entire set of research recommendations contained in the six volumes of the DRIs (IOM, 2007). The database associated with the project will soon be made completely accessible and highlights the knowledge needed to improve future DRI values. This weekâs workshop on the DRI development process comes at the close of the decade-long DRI initiative and represents the culmination of several important collaborations. All groups represented here today have played a crucial role. In this respect, we have easily met the goals we hoped to accomplish in this meeting. Participants promoted a broad and critical evaluation of the current DRI model, and the meeting provided a locus for discussion of the lessons learned and the challenges we face in developing future DRI-related efforts. Speaking on behalf of the workshopâs sponsors, we were struck by the enormous value of the DRI initiative overall and by the remarkable can- dor of the meeting participants about their experiences in contributing to the initiative. Their willingness to offer this type of input is a measure of how important the DRI effort is and how committed the participants are to bringing the best information to bear on what ultimately supports our public health recommendations. Although consensus was not a component
SUMMARY AND CLOSING REMARKS 153 of this meetingâs activities, we nonetheless obtained a great deal of food for thought. We have learned a great deal from the experiences shared at this meet- ing, including some ongoing challenges associated with dietary recom- mendation issues. We now have a picture of what we need to consider as we move forward. Notable among the issues are the scope, the organizing framework, and the basis for revisiting or developing new DRI values, as well as the need for scientific guiding criteria and the incorporation of sys- tematic review approaches in order to enhance transparency. On behalf of the government sponsors, we thank all involved for the astonishing amount of work that resulted in these fruitful discussions. The final product has certainly been worthy of their efforts.