Nutrition
Polish-born
American biochemist Casimir Funk introduced the term
vitamine in 1912. Researchers later identified vitamins
needed by the body to prevent deficiency diseases such
as beriberi, rickets, scurvy, and pellagra. As better
nutrition was developed and the quality of life improved,
these diseases almost disappeared from industrialized
countries (see Human Nutrition). But by the end of the
20th century, other nutritional disorders emerged. Studies
conducted in the United States in the 1990s showed that
more than 97 million Americans were overweight and risked
health problems, such as heart disease and diabetes
mellitus, commonly associated with obesity.
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