Dr. Lydia J. Roberts – Puerto Rico’s Doyenne of Nutrition: LJ Roberts-Nutritional Studies in Puerto Rico

Abstract

The year 2026 marks the 80th anniversary of Dr. Lydia J. Roberts’s relocation to Puerto Rico. To commemorate this occasion, a historical note on her Puerto Rico experience is appropriate. Prior to relocating to Puerto Rico in 1946, she had already achieved a stellar career at the University of Chicago as a leader in the field of nutrition. Mandatory retirement meant that she had the freedom to begin a new phase of her career, which consisted of continuing her research in Puerto Rico. Key figures in supporting her work were Jaime Benítez Rexach, chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico, and Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rico’s governor. Her research provided the groundwork for future nutritional programs that would benefit the Puerto Rican population. Two of these undertakings, described in this manuscript, are Patterns of Living in Puerto Rican Families, and The Doña Elena Project. Their original publication in booklet form makes them difficult to access. This article is the first to combine the general findings of both studies and to present them in journal form.