The Obama Administration has appointed Rajen Anand, an eminent Indian American to a key agriculture post giving him the responsibility to improve the nutrition status of 306 million population of the country.
Anand has been appointed as executive director of the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. The Center is best known for the development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the MyPyramid food guidance system.
"President Obama and I are firmly committed to improving the health and nutrition of the American people, and I am pleased to welcome Dr Anand back to USDA because he has a deep and broad understanding of dietary guidance, nutrition and how public policy is made," the US Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, said announcing his appointment.
"As a former professor and civil servant, Dr Anand will be a huge asset to our management team," he added.
A Democrat and a close supporter of the Clinton's, Anand had served in the same department during the Clinton Administration. He supported Obama after Hillary Clinton withdrew from the race.
In the Clinton Administration, Anand joined the center in 1995 as its Deputy Director and was promoted to executive director in 1997.
In this capacity, Anand will lead a staff comprised of nutritionists, economists, mathematicians, and food and social scientists as well as a new evidence analysis library.
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