National Nutrition Month is an annual campaign organized by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics designed to promote messages of good nutrition and wellness and to support the profession of dietetics.  The first National Nutrition Month was not, in fact, a month but rather a week.  The campaign began in 1973 with a theme “Invest in Yourself – Buy Nutrition” and dietitians across the country went to work planning events in schools and communities to promote the message. 
 
In 1980, after years of increased popularity, National Nutrition Week expanded to National Nutrition Month.  The theme was “To Hit Your Stride…Eat Smart” and National Nutrition Month continued to gain momentum. The annual themes were promoted everywhere including airplane banners, billboards, bus signs, milk cartons and grocery bags.  In 1987 posters and table tents promoting National Nutrition Month made a television appearance in the school cafeterias of the shows Head of the Class and Growing Pains.
 
As National Nutrition Month continued to grow, the former Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, joined forces with McDonalds to develop Food FUNdamentals.  This collaboration helped take the 1993 National Nutrition Month message to “Eat Right America!” to a much larger audience.  Food FUNdamentals featured a toy food character and nutrition information and activities about the food guide pyramid.  These materials were developed by the then American Dietetic Association and McDonalds. 
 
As technology advanced so did National Nutrition Month.  By the late 1990s, National Nutrition Month was on the internet.  The messages and themes could now be featured on home pages, emailed and blogged.
 
Through out the 39 years of celebrating National Nutrition Month there have been many themes, however the core message remains the same “to increase the public’s awareness of the importance of good nutrition.”

 
Denny, S. National Nutrition Month: A Brief History. JAMA;106(3):365-366.