Previous - Next
This is the old United Nations University website. Visit the new site at http://unu.edu
Infoods-Asiafoods
IUNS news
Nutrition
research grants
Scientific
meetings
New book
The INFOODS programme continues to strengthen and expand the network of people and organizations concerned with the development of an international network of food composition systems (described in the Food and Nutrition Bulletin, vol. 5 no. 2 [July 1983], p. 15). An organizational meeting of the Asian Regional Committee (ASIAFOODS) took place during the recent Fourth Asian Nutrition Congress, in Bankok, Thailand. Dr. Aree Valyasevi was chosen the interim Chairman of ASIAFOODS, with selection of members of the full committee still in progress. This regional committee joins EUROFOODS, LATINFOODS, MEDIFOODS, and NOAFOODS as a regional component of the evolving INFOODS network, with its secretariat located at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
The list of officers and committees of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS), published in preliminary form in the Food and Nutrition Bulletin, vol. 5, no. 1 (Feb. 1983), has now been published as the IUNS Directory 1982-1986, and is available from the Secretary General, Dorothy F. Hollingsworth, c/o Institute of Biology, 20 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2DZ, UK.
Since the publication in the Bulletin, the following changes have occurred: - A new committee on the History of Nutrition has been instituted in Committee II as 11/13 under the chairmanship of Dr. W. J. Darby. Its first charge is to compile a history of the first 40 years of IUNS for distribution at the Thirteenth International Congress of Nutrition in 1985. The membership of the committee has yet to be determined. - Dr. G. Solimano has resigned as IUNS liaison representative to UNICEF headquarters, New York. The new representative is Dr. L. J. Teply.
Affiliated Bodies-Changes of Address
FENS
Federation of European Nutrition Societies
Dr. A. A. Berat, Secretary
Laboratoire de Physiologie de la Nutrition
INRA-CNRZ
78350 Jouy en Josas, France
ICDA
International Committee for Dietetic Associations
Miss Eleanor Sortome, Executive Director
The Canadian Dietetic Association
385 Yonge Street, Suite 304
Toronto, Canada M5B 1S1
SLAN
Latin American Society of Nutrition
Dr. Alfred Lam-Sanchez, President
c/o School of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
State University of Sao Paulo
14.807-Jabotical-Sao Paulo, Brazil
IUNS Publications
The following publications have appeared since the issuance of the IUNS Directory 1982-1986:
A7 1978
"Notes on Workshop on Nutrition Education for Medical and
Other Health Sciences," held by Commission v in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, 27 Aug. - 1 Sept. 1978, during the Eleventh
Congress 8 pp., photocopied.
B47 1982 IV/4B.
"The Biology of Parasitic infection: Workshop of
Interactions of Nutrition and Parasitic Diseases." Report of
international symposium held in Bellagio, Italy, 27 Sept. - 1
Oct. 1980. Reviews of Infectious Diseases, 4: 735-911 (1982).*
B48 1983 V/1 and V/14.
"Training in Clinical Nutrition: Under graduate and
Postgraduate."' Mark L. Wahlquist and Bjorn Isaksson. 12
pp., photocopied: to he published.
B49 1983 v/1
"A Survey about Nutrition Teaching in the Schools of
Pharmacy of Latin America," Report of IUNS Working Group
2,5ubgroup for Latin America, Chairman, María E. Río. 9 pp.,
photocopied.
R50 1983 II/-.
"Methodologies for the Evaluation of Nutrition
Programmes," Report of a seminar held by IUNS Working Group
3 in Brasilia, Brazil, 1982. Walter J. Santos. 2 pp.,
photocopied.
C42 1982
Proceedings of the First Asian Household Nutrition Appropriate
Technology Conference, held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 1217 July
1981, sponsored by the Ministry of Colombo Hospitals and Family
Health, IUNS, USAID, UNICEF, and INCS Ed Ron Israel. Project
AID/DSAN-C-0209, USAID, Washington, D.C., USA, 1981.249 pp. Food
and Nutrition (FAO), 8(21; 59 (1982)
C43 1983
"Nutrition Education: The Work of IUNS" Paper presented
by D. P. Hollingsworth to the New Developments in Nutrition
Education International Conference of the University of London
Institute of Education. 14 pp., photocopied; to be published.
C44 1983
"Prespectives and Recommendations." Report from the International Conference on Chemistry and World Food Supplies: The New Frontiers (CHEMRAWN 11), held in Manila, Philippines, 7-10 Dec. 1982 (IUNS affiliate sponsor). Ed. Gordon Bixler and L. W. Shemilt. To be published by the International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines.
C45 1983
Chemistry and World Food Supplies: The New frontiers (CHEMRAWN
II). Proceedings of the International Conference on Chemistry and
World Food Supplies, Manila, Philippines, 6-10 Dec. 1982. Ed. L.
W. Shemilt. Pergamon Press, New York, 1983.600 pp. Hardcover
US$120, flexicover US$70.
The Foundation for the Advancement of the Knowledge of the Nutrition of Mother and Child in Developing Countries will make available US$100,000 for nutrition research in the Third World in 1984. This is an increase over the amount awarded by the Dutch foundation in 1983, when subsidies were granted for studies in Costa Rica, the People's Republic of China, Kenya, and the Philippines. The studies are concerned with infant growth during the first six months of life in relation to the nutrition of the lactating mother and to breast-milk ouput.
Research proposals for consideration in 1984 are now being solicited. Further information can be obtained from Dr. W. I. J. Aalbersberg, Secretary of the Foundation, PO Box 20, 6710 BA Ede, Netherlands, telex 37205.
The International Symposium on Dietary Fibre in Human and Animal Nutrition was held in Palmerston North, New Zealand, 23-28 May 1982, under the sponsorship of the Royal Society of New Zealand and IUNS. IUNS was represented by A. S. Truswell, who reported that the symposium was a great success. There were 180 participants from 21 different countries. Papers were of a high standard, discussions responsible, workshops stimulating, and the interchange between disciplines effective. A full report of the symposium is to be published. Three resolutions were passed at the symposium and presented to IUNS. They were: that IUNS be asked to consider including a plenary symposium on dietary fibre in the programme for the Thirteenth International Congress of Nutrition, in 1985 (this will be in the programme); that IUNS be asked to consider the establishment of a scientific committee to collect data and stimulate research on dietary fibre with reference to both developing and developed countries (this has been implemented in part by including fibre among the constituents of food on which IUNS Committee l/10 will review techniques for measurement!; and that every effort should be made to stimulate further combined meetings of scientists interested in aspects of dietary fibre relative to animal and human health and physiology, intestine ecosystems, and plant chemistry (IUNS has noted this recommendation).
The Second African Nutrition Congress, held in Ibadan, Nigeria, 27 February-3 March 1983, was organized by the Nutrition Society of Nigeria and the Department of Human Nutrition, University of Ibadan, with support from the International Union of Nutritional Sciences, WHO, the LAMBO Foundation, COSTED, the Federal Ministry of Health of Nigeria, the Australian Development Assistance Bureau, and Food and Pharmaceutical Industries. Prof. A. Omololu of the Human Nutrition Department, University of Ibadan, was chairman of the local organizing committee. The theme of the congress was "Foods and Nutrition in the Eighties in Africa." There were 161 delegates from Nigeria, Cameroon, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Angola, Egypt, Sierra Leone, Congo, Gambia, Lesotho, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Uganda, India, Australia, France, and Denmark. The congress was inaugurated by the Vice-President of Nigeria.
There were plenary sessions in the mornings on foods and nutrition in Africa in the eighties: nutrition and primary health care; food and nutrition policy; food, nutrition, and population; and nutrition training and education. There were free communications in the afternoons on nutritional requirement, deficiencies and diet therapy, food consumption and nutrition education, maternal and infant nutrition, and composition and nutritive value of foods.
Young African scientists took a very active part in the discussions. It was noted that the countries of Africa do not produce enough good quality foods and they are poorly and inequitably distributed. Hunger and malnutrition affect large sections of populations, leading to wastage of human resources through high incidence of ill health and deaths. The congress therefore felt that African governments should give priority to food and nutrition policy in their development plans; promote rural development and breast feeding of infants; control production, promotion, and marketing of proprietary infant foods, especially breastmilk replacers; and support nutrition education.
A training workshop on Foetal and Neonatal Development in Relation to Maternal Nutrition and Ecological Factors was held at the University of Ibadan, in Nigeria, 3-6 March 1983, following the Second African Nutrition Congress (see preceding report). The workshop was attended by 36 scientists from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Gambia, Angola, Tanzania, Cameroon, and Zimbabwe. Profs. Rajalakshmi, Sai, Prentice, and Omololu took the responsibility of conducting the workshop and prepared a preamble and background papers on prepregnancy nutrition, nutrition during pregnancy, foetal growth, lactation and milk composition, breast-feeding, infant weaning practices, and public health aspects. Each session was started by an introductory lecture by one of the leaders, and the young scientists took active part in discussions by presenting their own data. Profs. Rajalakshmi and Omololu prepared a questionnaire in the light of the discussions to elicit information from different African countries on various points discussed in the workshop and requested the participants to complete and return the questionnaire. The workshop gave the participants the opportunity to meet scientists working in the field, and the information they gathered should help them to initiate studies that will benefit their countries in particular and Africa as a whole.
A detailed technical report on the workshop was published in the 1983 issue of the Baroda Journal of Nutrition. (Report from Professor C.V. Ramakrishnana, Biochemistry Department, University of Baroda.)
The Fourth European Nutrition Conference was held in the RAI Congress Centre in Amsterdam, Netherlands, 24-27 May 1983. There were approximately 500 participants, representing most European countries with a sprinkling from other continents. The themes of the four main sessions were: Overweight-The Central Nutritional Problem?; Towards Healthy Diet; Nutrition and Age; and Clinical Nutrition. Each main session consisted of three plenary lectures and four concurrent workshops. There was a continuous poster exhibition; many of the posters were related to the workshops. During the final session a forum was held in which practicing journalists spoke on "Nutrition and the Mass Media," and the first FENS - European Nutrition Award was presented to Dr. Elsie Widdowson, who gave her award lecture on "Links with European Colleagues over 40 Years." Prof. J. G. A. J. Hautvast was elected President of FENS.
This was a successful conference, which provided an excelIent opportunity for a large number of young European scientists to meet and talk to each other and to the many more senior nutritionists who took part.
The International Conferance on New Developments in Nutrition Education, the second international conference on nutrition education (the first, sponsored by IUNS in cooperation with Unesco, was held in Oxford, UK, in September 1977), was held at the University of London Institute of Education, 12-15 July 1983. About 130 people from some 30 countries participated. Unesco contributed much to the conference and will publish its proceedings, it is hoped, early in 1984. IUNS co-operated in the planning, and the Secretary General presented greetings from IUNS and reviewed the work of IUNS in nutrition education.
The conference consisted of three sessions on issues and perspectives, which included an opening presentation on human nutritional deficiencies, followed by papers and discussions on five main topics-the needs of pupils at primary and secondary level, non-formal education, identifying priorities in teacher education, evaluating nutrition education projects, and the use of the media in nutrition education-with workshops on related topics and the presentation of reports from the five groups. This was an interesting conference that brought together informed and lively participants from a wide variety of countries.
The Sixth World Congress on Food Science and Technology, with some 930 participants, was held at the Royal Dublin Society and University College, Dublin, Ireland, 1823 September 1983. The Executive Committee of the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUF.ST) met immediately before and after the congress, and the lUFoST general assembly was held on the last morning of the congress. On three mornings there were 20 sessions of invited papers held in parallel; four of these were on nutritional topics, and most of the rest contained sections on nutritional matters. On three afternoons there were workshops and committee meetings and a symposium on "Food Science and Technology as a Means of Alleviating Hunger and Poverty" arranged by the United Nations University. There was one wellattended evening lecture on "Diet for the Aged."
The opening session included excellent addresses from Dr. M. S. Swaminathan, Director-General of the International Rice Research Institute at Los Baños, Philippines, and Dr. J. H. Hulse, the retiring President of lUFoST. The closing session consisted of a concise summary of the congress by the chairman of its Academic Committee, Prof. J. V. McLoughlin, and a short opening statement from the new President of lUFoST, Dr. R. L. Hall. The Seventh International Congress of Food Science and Technology will be held in Singapore in 1987. The Secretary General of IUNS attended the meetings of the lUFoST Executive Committee and the general assembly and presented an invited paper on nutrition education at the congress.
CHEMRAWN Il: Chemistry and World Food Supplies: The New Frontiers, held in Manila, Philippines, 6-10 September 1982, was the second in the CHEMRAWN (Chemical Research Applied to World Needs) series of international meetings designed by IUPAC to identify and address world needs amenable to solutions through chemistry. It was co-sponsored by the International Rice Research Institute and brought together about 700 scientists, industrial managers, agricultural specialists, and policymakers from some 40 developing and more developed nations to discuss and design future research directions and identify priorities in chemistry, biological sciences, and agriculture to ameliorate the mounting problem of providing adequate food and nutrition in developing nations for their growing populations.
The first day was devoted to keynote addresses that reviewed economic, social, and political factors; the role of implementing institutions; and the potential for the new frontiers of chemistry and agriculture to meet the world's growing food problems. During the second and third days there were concurrent technical sessions focusing on:
Both the conference scientific papers and the recommendations and plans of action will be published. Further information is available from the General Chairman of the conference, Dr. Bryant W. Rossiter, CHEMRAWN II, c/o the International Food Policy Research Institute, 1776 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20036, USA. (From ICSU Newsletter No.13.)
Leaf Protein Concentrates, by Lehel Telek and Horace D. Graham (Avi Publishing Co., Westport, Conn. 06881, USA; Ellis Horwood Ltd., Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1 EB, UK; US$85 in the United States, US$93.50 elsewhere), presents the first complete overview of all research being done world-wide on the utilization of the world's most renewable resource, grappling with the multiple problems associated with attempts to use leaf proteins for animal feed and for human consumption.
Many international contributors present a critical review of the findings, opinions, and projections of research groups around the world, discussing leaf protein concentrates in four major sections: the various plant sources, chemistry and nutrition, factors and preparation techniques, and ten chapters describing world-wide research, in tropical as well as temperate countries.