In the world scenario, the emergence of nutrition science was a phenomenon characteristic of the early Twentieth Century. In Brazil, its emergence occurred in the health sciences area (or life sciences) and was characterized, at first, as a science of biological nature. This article aims to analyze the trajectory of the process of producing scientific knowledge which ensured specificity to the field of nutrition in Brazil, from its emergence to the present. The theoretical assumptions that guide the article are: the concept of scientific field, developed by Pierre Bourdieu, and the concepts of paradigm and scientific community, introduced by Thomas Samuel Kuhn. Historical analysis shows that, from birth and in addition to its biological nature, Brazilian nutrition assumed social and environmental dimensions, being characterized as a multidisciplinary field of knowledge formed from the integration of the biological sciences, social sciences and food and nutrition sciences. In the last decades, with the intensive development of communication and information technology, genetics and sustainability theories, major paradigmatic changes have occurred in the field of nutrition. Therefore, one can say that nutrition is experiencing a post-genomic era and becoming a multidisciplinary science, characterized by the integration of the biological, social and environmental dimensions.
Scientific field; Nutrition science; Nutrition and dietetics; Nutrigenomics; Paradigm