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IUNS Award
The IUNS Award, sponsored by the International Nutrition Foundation for Developing Countries, is given every four years at the International Congress of Nutrition. The 1997 IUNS Award was presented at the 16th International Congress of Nutrition in Montreal in July 1997 to Dr. Noel W. Solomons. Dr. Solomons was presented with a plaque that read “in recognition of longstanding dedication to improvement in the health of populations around the world through nutrition research and training” and a check for US$5,000. The next award will be presented at the 17th International Congress of Nutrition in Vienna in 2001. Past awards were given to Dr. T. N. Maletnlema, Tanzania (1985), Prof. C. Gopalan, India (1989), and Dr. Fernando Mönckeberg, Venezuela (1993).
Course announcement
The Graduate School for Advanced Studies in Nutrition, Food Technology, Agrobiotechnology, and Health Sciences, the Netherlands, in cooperation with the United Nations University, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the COST Programme of the European Union, and the International Union of Nutritional Sciences, announce the Fourth International Graduate Course on Production and Use of Food Composition Data in Nutrition (FoodComp’98).
The course, directed by Professor D. A. T. Southgate and Professor C. E. West, will be held in Wageningen, Netherlands, 5-23 October 1998. It is intended for those involved in nutritional database programmes as analysts, compilers, or users and will be of value to those teaching nutrition and nutritional aspects of food chemistry. The aim of the course is to show how those involved in the production of analytical data for nutrients in foods and the compilation of these data into food composition tables and nutritional databases contribute to the quality and usefulness of these compilations in nutrition. The course will be based on the philosophy that the preparation of nutritional databases requires close understanding of the needs of the users by both compilers and producers of analytical data. The course will show how this understanding can be achieved and the benefits that flow from the collaboration of users, analysts, and compilers. Stages in the production of a nutrient database will be examined.
The course will consist of lectures, seminars, and group work. The course fee is Dfl 6,800, including a non-refundable deposit of Dfl 680. The fee covers accommodation and meals at the Wageningen International Congress Centre, course materials, tuition fees, and excursions. The closing date for application is 1 July 1998, but candidates are recommended to apply as soon as possible.
Further information can be obtained from Mrs. L. Duym, Secretariat FoodComp’98, Division of Human Nutrition and Epidemiology, Wageningen Agricultural University, P.O. Box 8129,6700 EV Wageningen, Netherlands; telephone +31 317 483054; telefax +31 317 483342; E-mail Lous.Duym@Staff.NUTEPI.WAU.NL. More information about the course can also be found on the World Wide Web: http://www.wau.nl/vlag/foodcomp.html.
The State of the World’s Children 1998
Malnutrition is largely a silent and invisible emergency, exacting a terrible toll on children and their families. The result of multiple causes, including a lack of food, common and preventable infections, inadequate care, and unsafe water, it plays a role in more than half of the nearly 12 million deaths each year of children under five in developing countries, a proportion unmatched since the Black Death ravaged Europe in the fourteenth century. Malnutrition blunts intellects and saps the productivity and potential of entire societies. Poverty, one of the causes of malnutrition, is also a consequence, a tragic bequest by malnourished parents to the next generation.
UNICEF’S State of the World’s Children 1998 report details the scale of the problems caused by malnutrition and the steps being taken to solve them. It contains chapters on the causes of malnutrition, trends in child malnutrition by region, and recognizing the right to nutrition. Three-quarters of the children who die worldwide of causes related to malnutrition are what nutritionists describe as “mildly to moderately malnourished” and show no outward signs of the problems. No less than half of all children under the age of five in South Asia and one-third of those in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as millions of children in industrialized countries, are malnourished, says the report.
The UNICEF report, however, details progress in combating malnutrition: nearly 60% of the world’s salt is now iodized, and millions of children every year are spared mental retardation as a result. Vitamin A supplementation is helping bolster disease resistance in children and may soon become an important measure for helping to reduce maternal deaths around the world. The report cites examples of UNICEF projects around the world that are successfully taking on the problems caused by malnutrition.
The State of the World’s Children 1998 also contains the traditional statistical tables that help chart progress towards the goals set by country governments at the 1990 World Summit for Children. The eight tables in this report have been expanded to give the broadest possible coverage of important basic indicators for nutrition, health, education, demographics, economy, and the situation of women, plus rates of progress and regional summaries.
The Report is available from:
UNICEF Headquarters in New YorkBooks available
UNICEF House
3 UN Plaza
New York, NY 10017 USA
Telephone: (212) 326-7278
Fax: (212) 326-7768
E-mail: meisner@unicef.orgUNICEF Geneva Regional Office
5-7 avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva, Switzerland
Telephone: 22 909 5519
Fax: 22 909 5907
E-mail: pmccormick@unicef.org
A limited number of copies of the following books are available for the cost of postage and handling from the International Nutrition Foundation, Charles St. Sta., P. 0. Box 500, Boston, MA 02114-0500, USA; fax (617) 227-9405; E-mail unucpo@zork.tiac.net.
Single-cell protein - Safety for animal and human feeding. Edited by Silvio Garattini, Silvio Paglialunga, and Nevin S. Scrimshaw. Pergamon Press, New York, 1979. Paperback, 213 pages. Postage and handling: US$4.00.
Nutrition and agricultural development. Significance and potential for the tropics. Edited by Nevin S. Scrimshaw and M. Béhar. Plenum Press, New York, 1976. Hardcover, 500 pages. Postage and handling: US$8.50.
Nutrition policy implementation. Issues and experience. Edited by Nevin S. Scrimshaw and Mitchel B. Wallerstein. Plenum Press, New York, 1982. Hardcover, 558 pages. Postage and handling: US$8.50.
