"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do."  --Goethe

The demand for vision services is expected to flood the healthcare system by 2015 due to age related eye disease and the diabetes epidemic.  Therefore, disease prevention, including lifestyle modification, attention to dietary intake and micronutrient supplementation must become more of a focus of primary vision care.

 
The purpose of the Optometric Nutrition Society:
 

1. To promote excellence in the care of optometric patients through nutritional support of eye health and the prevention and control of ocular and systemic disease. 
2. To sponsor professional symposia as well as a website, and to generate materials to educate professionals regarding the role of nutrition in systemic and ocular health.
3. To provide a collegial atmosphere where health care professionals can exchange ideas and concepts regarding nutritional influences on vision.
4. Provide a resource pool of clinically relevant refereed studies that support the role of safe nutritional support for the management of ocular and systemic disease.
5. To monitor and validate claims made by industry regarding the quality and efficacy of nutritional supplements.
6. To encourage the inclusion of nutrition education in the curricula of optometry schools.

The founding board members of the Optometric Nutrition Society (ONS) have a long history in the area of nutrition research as it relates to vision health, as well as credentials that have allowed them to publish in the field of systemic nutrition as it relates to eye health, or to lecture in this field at local, national and international optometric meetings. 
 
The non-profit Optometric Nutrition Society does not formally endorse any specific nutritional products. We have enlisted the expertise of nutritional industry leaders who have the knowledge and experience in nutritional science. This panel will closely monitor peer-reviewed published science on nutritional influence on eye health, as well as safety and ethical issues regarding specific micronutrients included in supplements being marketed to vision patients.
 
The Optometric Nutrition Society semi-annual symposia will include COPE and Optometric Educational Institution approved continuing education with a nutrition focus.

The mission of the Optometric Nutrition Society is to promote excellence in the care of patients through nutritional support for eye diseases and disorders through professional education and scientific investigation.

We are dedicated to Nutrition for Vision.