Poor nutrition is a leading cause of poor health and spiraling health care spending. Research from the Tufts Friedman School suggests that poor eating causes nearly 1,000 deaths each day in the United States from heart disease, stroke or diabetes. In 2016, the direct and indirect costs of chronic diseases as a result of obesity were $1.72 trillion — almost 10 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.

Poor eating also contributes to disparities in well-being, especially among children : a vicious cycle of bad health, lost productivity, increased health costs and poverty. Poor nutrition and obesity are also a major threat to military readiness. A recent report from Mission: Readiness, a group of more than 700 retired admirals and generals, noted that obesity is the leading medical disqualifier that prevents otherwise qualified Americans from joining the military.

Yet many of the most fundamental questions about foods and health — especially their impact on the economy and the military — remain unanswered. There is also tremendous confusion about what constitutes a healthy diet. Despite the urgency of these questions, the sum of research funding for nutritional research across all federal agencies — like the agriculture department, Health and Human Services and Department Defense — is only about $1.5 billion annually. To put this into perspective, national spending on candy purchases is about $40 billion per year.

That is why our country needs an institute devoted to research on the top cause of poor health. We would call it the National Institute of Nutrition, and it would be part of the National Institutes of Health.