In 1981 the Nurses' Committee of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition appointed an Ad Hoc Committee to investigate the evolution of and the current status of nutrition education curriculum in schools of nursing accredited by the National League for Nursing. This investigation identified current trends in the teaching of nutrition content in baccalaureate and graduate schools of nursing. Part one explores the evolution of nutrition content in school of nursing curriculum; while part two (to be published in a later journal) presents the results of a descriptive survey of accredited schools of nursing in the United States.