From the editor.

With publication of the index, the December issue provides an opportunity to examine the past year in review. The index highlights the relevance of the Journal to contemporary issues in nutrition and dietetics, and the means by which research in the discipline addresses these issues. It is fitting also that the articles in this issue relate to research that informs practice, in this case targeting communities in Victoria and the Northern Territory, the Illawarra region of NSW, and New Zealand.

Healthy food availabilty

Judy Seale's introduction to her leading article (on monitoring price and availability of healthy food) provides a comprehensive view of food security in Australia, a key public health nutrition issue. She argues for a national approach to ensure this benefit is extended to all. More specifically. Williams and colleagues address the question of the affordability of healthy foods for the Illawarra community in two articles. Their first paper, outlining the development of the model food basket, displays the importance of using a transparent methodology in making qualified comment on an issue such as food affordability. Decisions were based on available reference data, with the assumption that these data reflect best practice in nutrition guideline development. The second article then applies the model basket framework to develop a trend analysis of cost in a three-year period. Information from systematic analyses such as these is useful in testing assumptions regarding potential public health nutrition problems in an area, in this case as they relate to environmental conditions.

Community-based research and practice

In the next article, the information relates to the community itself. Obesity is a major public health problem in the community, and success in maintenance of weight loss is rare. Timperio and Crawford report on public perceptions of success in weight control in a community sample in Victoria and find discordance between public health defined goals and privately held views. An understanding of this discordance is informative for practices.

Compared to overweight individuals, athletes in the community may be perceived as healthy, but the study by Finn and Wood from Darwin found health risk of a different kind. Their study of 93 male athletes in the Arafura Games uncovered the presence of dehydration in athletes competing in volleyball, touch football and basketball, suggesting the need for monitoring and education programs.

We then look to New Zealand where Young and colleagues report on a program dealing with another community group that would benefit from nutrition programs, especially as their food is provided. They examine the effects of a healthy catering program on the provision of healthy menu items, by measuring perceptions of caterers and dietitians. These stakeholders found the program to be successful in making changes and identified areas for further improvement in food services, completing the cycle of program planning, implementation and evaluation.

These studies of community-based research are good reflections of the nature and scope of nutrition and dietetics research. They are accompanied by the continuing education quiz that addresses nutrition and the elderly, and a conference report on the pre-Athens Olympics meeting on Nutrition and Fitness. A fitting way to end the year.

From a management perspective. I must add heartfelt thanks to the highly professional team that has helped to produce the Journal in 2004. In particular I would like to acknowledge the hard work of the managing editor, Margaret Ruhfus and her colleagues at the DAA office. This has been a busy year, with thanks extended to the full Editorial Board and the Journal and Scientific Publications Advisory Committee listed on the first page. To those Associate Editors completing their terms: Heather Green-field, Peter Howe, Samir Samman and Jane Scott, go special thanks and best wishes. We look forward to exciting developments with the Journal next year, and in particular establishing links with international colleagues and promoting our conference outcomes. Before the next issue though, and on behalf of the Journal team, I wish a safe and restful season to all our readers.

Professor Linda Tapsell APD 

Editor