The rise and fall of dietetics and of nutrition science, 4000 BCE–2000 CE

OBJECTIVE: To outline the history of dietetics since its beginnings in recorded history, and of nutrition science in its first phase beginning in the mid-nineteenth century and then its second phase in the second half of the twentieth century. METHOD: Three narrative overviews: of dietetics from its beginnings until after the end of the medieval and then Renaissance periods in Europe; of nutrition science in its first phase from its beginnings in the mid-nineteenth century until the middle of the twentieth century, with reasons for its rise; and of nutrition science in its second phase in the second half of the twentieth century, with reasons for its decline. CONCLUSIONS: In its third phase in the twenty-first century, the new nutrition science should regain much of the vision and scope of its preceding disciplines.