International Union Of Nutritional Sciences Research Articles

Operationalising the Capability Approach for Healthy Child Growth via a Participatory Method: An Illustrative Case in Haor Areas of Bangladesh

ABSTRACT The Task Force “Towards a Multidimensional Index to Child Growth”, within the International Union of Nutritional Sciences, developed a capability framework for child growth (CFCG). This framework aims to redefine child growth monitoring, expanding beyond weight and height to encompass parental capabilities. We further operationalised the CFCG in hard-to-reach haor areas of Bangladesh, resulting in the publication of a list outlining parental capabilities for child growth. This paper details the methodology and participatory process employed, offering reflections on how our research followed the criteria proposed by Robeyns for identifying capabilities. First, we built a contextualised list of capabilities for child growth based on discussions with local experts. This list underwent further adaptation for haor regions in two rounds. Initially, we used a doxastic interviewing methodology to create a draft emic list of capabilities for child growth. Subsequently, utilising an epistemic methodology, we refined the list. The doxastic interviews focused on “understanding” the interviewees; the epistemic interviews facilitated equal communication between interviewer and interviewee, promoting knowledge co-creation. This rigorous approach validates the findings with the affected communities and supports implementation of the CFCG in policy and practice. This methodology could be extended to other pertinent research areas for capability scholars.

IUNS 22nd International Congress of Nutrition – Abstracts

The 22nd International Congress of Nutrition (ICN) was organized under the auspices of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) and was celebrated Japan, December 6-11, 2022. The IUNS-ICN is a four-yearly meeting that has been held since 1946. The 2022 IUNS- ICN edition has been conjointly organized by the Japan society of Nutrition and Food Science, The Japanese Society of Nutrition and Dietetics and the IUNS Council with the integrative collaboration of the Organizing, Scientific and Executive Committees under the motto “The Power of Nutrition: for the smiles of 10 billion people”. The aim of this IUNS 22nd ICN was to promote the global exchange of knowledge in Nutritional Sciences and to encourage communications well as capacity building. The scientific program comprised 2 Opening Lectures, 8 Plenary Lectures, 32 Special Lectures, 8 Special Symposia, 124 Symposia and 2 Panel Discussions and 1 Closing Lecture.The congress focused on every aspect of nutrition issues, going through a wide variety of topics, which were dealt with from different perspectives in order to enrich our attendees’ points of view. Let us mention the tracks of the developed program:Advances in Nutrition Research, Nutrients and Nutritional Assessment, Nutrition Through Life Course, Nutrition and Management of Diseases, Food Culture Practices and Nutrition Education, Public Health Nutrition and Environment, Functional Foods and Bioactive Compounds, Agriculture, Food Science and Safety, Additional Global NutritionalThe main goal was to offer a high-level scientific meeting focused on addressing the key aspects of nutrition in a multicultural environment, from state-of-the-art reviews to cutting edge nutritional science information. Sessions are planned to deliver latest investigations and outcomes concerning the impact of nutrition on homeostasis and body metabolism, on dietary intake and nutritional status of the population and the individual for precision nutrition as well on the role of dietary prescriptions in disease management and prevention. Translational research orientated to design and implement strategies and approaches to change dietary behaviors and to develop policies, as well as aspects related to public health issues, Nutrition Education and Climate Change, or Food and Agriculture for Health Maintenance, were included in the program. Eight plenary sessions framed the program with eminent speakers covering all health aspects in the life cycle with integrative views on food security. The present supplement accounts for 1798 abstracts from 97 countries, including the summaries of more than 500 selected guest speakers participating in the scientific symposia.

Conflict of interest in nutrition conference financing: Moving towards solutions after IUNS 2022

Making contributions to reducing malnutrition entails sharing evidence and approaches among the research and practice communities, including through conferences. But who is involved in these processes, including who pays, matters both in terms of actions and optics. This paper was motivated by observations – in 2022 and historically – that the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS), in putting on its flagship International Congress of Nutrition (ICN), was leaving itself – and, by extension, participating scientists – open to conflicts of interest (COI). With contemporary scholarship on the commercial determinants of health making clear the ways in which this kind of sponsorship represents both a conflict of interest for nutrition events and a negative force in broader food system drivers of nutrition, this paper aims to document the issues surrounding the 2022 IUNS-ICN conference as historical record; draw on academic literature on conflict of interest to better understand the issue; and suggest some practical options moving towards COI-free nutrition events in the future.

Traditional and Indigenous Fruits and Vegetables for Food System Transformation.

ABSTRACTFruit and vegetable consumption is recommended in numerous food-based dietary guidelines and forms a key recommendation in many international statements related to healthy diets. There are thousands of fruit and vegetable species from which to choose, but despite this abundance from nature, populations in most countries neither produce nor consume the recommended daily amounts of fruits and vegetables. There is enormous potential to better incorporate the wealth of diverse fruit and vegetable species and varieties into food systems. Known and preserved by indigenous communities, these hidden food treasures can foster collaborative research and learning. This perspective from the Task Force on Traditional and Indigenous Food Systems and Nutrition of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) highlights 5 key actions that can be taken by individuals, communities, and nations to reshape dialogue about traditional and indigenous fruits and vegetables to benefit people and planetary ecosystems.

Gender roles, food system biodiversity, and food security in Indigenous Peoples' communities.

Traditional knowledge and practice of Indigenous Peoples related to their food use and well-being is a wealth of information for academic study and for public health nutrition. Despite unique long-evolved heritages of knowledge of ecosystem resources, Indigenous Peoples comprise 15% of the global poor, but only 5% of the world's population, and they experience poverty, discrimination, and poor nutritional health at far greater rates than mainstream populations in their nations of residence. These disparities are unacceptable in all human rights frameworks, and the call to alleviate them resonates through all human development programmes and the United Nations organizations. The scholars contributing to this special issue of Maternal and Child Nutrition describe how gender roles and the right to food for several cultures of Indigenous Peoples can be fostered to protect their unique foods and traditions, providing food sovereignty and food and nutrition security benefits, especially for women and children. Aspects of societal maternal or paternal lineality and locality, division of labour, spirituality and decision-making are described. These factors structure the impact of gender roles with Indigenous worldviews on the dynamics of family food access, its availability and use, and the use of local food biodiversity. Cultures of Indigenous Peoples in Ecuador, Nigeria, Thailand, India, Canada, Japan, and Morocco are discussed. This publication is a work of the Task Force on Traditional, Indigenous and Cultural Food and Nutrition of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences.

Welcome from the International Union of Nutritional Sciences.

Welcome from the International Union of Nutritional Sciences.

The eNutrition Academy: Supporting a New Generation of Nutritional Scientists around the World.

Nutrition training and building capacity to provide a competent workforce to support national and regional efforts to combat malnutrition remain a major challenge in Africa and other developing regions of the world. The capacity to provide the necessary intellectual drive for nutrition research, policy, and practice in countries lacking in readiness for nutrition actions is imperative to improve the health of their people. To help address this need, the eNutrition Academy (eNA) was formed as a global partnership organization by the African Nutrition Society, the Federation of African Nutrition Societies, the Nutrition Society of the United Kingdom and Ireland, the ASN, and the International Union of Nutritional Sciences, supported by Cambridge University Press. The primary objective of this partnership is to provide an online learning platform that is free to access, enabling users to benefit from a wide range of learning materials from basic tools to more-advanced learning materials for teachers and researchers in developing countries. The goal of this article was to summarize the findings of a symposium held at the ASN Scientific Sessions and Annual Meeting at Experimental Biology 2015, which explored the themes of international capacity development, with a particular focus on the African continent, online learning, and the eNA e-learning platform. Given the vast human capacity present in Africa that is poised to create new solutions to address the public health needs of the continent, now is an opportune time to establish South-North and South-South partnerships to develop the next generation of African nutritional scientists.

Proceedings of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) 20th International Congress of Nutrition.

Proceedings of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) 20th International Congress of Nutrition.

A personal view of nutrition in Spain.

This paper stems from the special lecture given by the author at 20th International Congress of Nutrition, held from 16 to 20 September 2013 in Granada (Spain), following for his appointment as "Living Legend" of the International Union of nutritional sciences (IUNS), in recognition of his outstanding contribution to research and development in nutritional science. The development of nutrition in Spain from the 1960s to the present, which the author had the opportunity to experience first hand, is described. The contribution covers an extensive period in the history of this science, and highlights the advances made in our knowledge of nutrition and several of the misunderstandings that existed and still exist in this science: 1) The Anglo-Saxon dietary pattern and the high incidence of death from myocardial infarction, and the subsequent recognition of the Mediterranean diet as a model of a varied and balanced and healthy eating. 2) The relationship between cardiovascular disease and the consumption of oily fish. Since the discovery of the syn - thesis of prostaglandins makes it clear that fish fat is heart-healthy. 3) The epidemic of prosperity, overweight and obesity and the appearance of miracle diets. However, there are not miracles, the only solution being a healthy lifestyle and a balanced hypocaloric diet. 4) In the field of nutrition, diet and health, the harmful effect of: "In my opinion", a single allusion that undermines all science. The author also acknowledges all the researchers whose efforts, tenacity and enthusiasm have contributed to the advances made in nutrition science in Spain.

Turning dilemmas into opportunities: a UNU/SCN capacity development network in public nutrition in Central and Eastern Europe

Capacity development in nutrition is a process whereby individuals, groups, institutions, organizations and societies enhance their abilities to identify and meet challenges in a sustainable manner. To address these issues, in 2001 the UN System Standing Committee on Nutrition (SCN) established a Working Group on Capacity Development under the joint coordination of the United Nations University (UNU) and the International Union of Nutritional Sciences. Several regional professional networks have developed under this working group, the latest for the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries. Ten CEE countries formed a network in 2006 and identified major nutritional challenges in the region, which included: irregular meal patterns; low consumption of fruits/vegetables, milk products and fish; low intake of some micronutrients; and high intakes of fat, sugar and salt. Public policies in nutrition were either weak or absent. Some countries had recently developed nutrition plans. Higher education in nutrition was seen as very important for public nutrition work by professionals in the region, who considered it a prerequisite for reversing the negative trend of the nutrition transition. The network will continue to work on issues that are still not covered adequately. Its activities to date and prospects for the future are assessed against ten principles for good capacity development suggested by the United Nations Development Programme.

Nutrition leadership training in North-East Asia: an IUNS initiative in conjunction with nutrition societies in the region.

Food for humans is one of the most important of all global issues. It is a critical determinant of planetary and individual health, of economic development, of how sustainable energy and water supplies are, and its security a powerful determinant of peace or conflict. Those who assume leadership for the integrity of food and health systems have great responsibility. The IUNS (International Union of Nutritional Sciences), regional and national nutrition science and food technology organizations have concern about the leadership capacity available and required in what are rapidly changing and increasingly demanding circumstances. These include persistent poverty and hunger, climate change which threatens the sustainability of food production and fragile financial systems which are making food less affordable for many. North East Asia (NEA) is a major region for its population size, its economic wealth and disparities, its food production, its life expectancies among the best and its global reach. In 2008, for those of Chinese ancestry and of wider Asian origin, Nutrition Leadership training has been conducted in Hangzhou, Shanghai, Seoul and Taiwan (Hsinchu and Zhunan). Ninety prospective young leaders participated in all. Several successful early career Asian nutrition scientists and professionals served as role models. Senior colleagues acted as mentors for groups of 2 or 3. With mentors, the concept of leadership has been examined, careers and roles explored, knowledge and skills honed for a different future, and plans made to network in mutual support. Early feedback indicates that new opportunities have been created and seized.

New nutrition science in practice.

A number of imperatives require a re-think of science in general and of nutrition science in particular. Nutrition science has never been a body of knowledge in its own right and many other sciences have been nutritional in their orientation. At its best "nutrition science" has been integrative as well as reductionist. It has worked across disciplines. The IUNS, (International Union of Nutritional Sciences) undertook to re-examine nutrition science from a policy point of view and to do so with knowledge-makers in general and with the International Science Council. There is now a Sciences for Health and Wellbeing (SHWB) initiative involving all branches of science. It is expected that innovative, integrative, sustainable, and cost-effective approaches to human well-being and health will emerge. Some of the pressing needs for such collaboration have been in the areas of sustainable food systems, potable water, more nutritious crops, food and human behaviour, to reduce the burden of nutritionally-related disease (NRD) and make health care affordable. An IUNS Task Force met in Giessen in 2005. It concluded that nutrition science should develop on 3 fronts, the biomedical, societal and environmental. This will encourage new and more effective initiatives for nutrition and its partners to address local, regional and global concerns about planetary and personal health and well-being. Some important and critical areas already require collective attention. Unlike our predecessors in nutrition science, we will be unable to fulfil the expectations of us unless we progress this wider and less anthropocentric form of our science.

IUNS – International Union of Nutritional Sciences

The International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) is the umbrella organization for nutrition societies all over the world 1. It was founded in England in 1948 and was initially led by a small executive committee. The first chairs were from Belgium and the UK, Professor EJ Bigwood and Dr Leslie J Harris, respectively. In the beginning, the main aim of the Union was to support the development of nutritional science and human nutrition everywhere in the world. That aim has not changed much through the years. The IUNS does not have individuals as members, instead a country may have a scientific society as a representative member called an adhering body of the IUNS. The Finnish Society for Nutrition Research represents Finland. Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland are attached with corresponding scientific societies as adhering bodies. In 2006 the number of adhering bodies exceeded 80. The IUNS Council is responsible for the activities carried out by the IUNS. The council members are selected every fourth year, and the chairs have been selected from different parts of the world, from the USA, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Egypt, England, India, Yugoslavia, the Netherlands and Thailand. There has been one chair from Scandinavia: Professor Paavo Roine from Finland in 1969–1972. The new council started its fourth year period in September 2006. The present chair, Professor Ricardo Uauy, is from Chile, and the other members are from the USA, Austria, Brazil, Egypt, South Korea, Spain and Finland. The IUNS is a member of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), and in this forum the IUNS has collaborated with other member societies of the ICSU, such as the International Union of Toxicology, Pure and Applied Chemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Food Science and Technology. The mission of the IUNS is still the same as it was in the beginning: to support nutritional science in all its forms, with a particular emphasis on global issues of nutrition. The main scientific activity of the IUNS is to organize and take responsibility for the scientific programme of the World Congress of Nutrition, together with a local adhering body. These congresses take place every fourth year. The first congress was held in 1952 in Basle, and the next one will be in Bangkok in 2009. The other scientific activity of the IUNS is to be a voice in different organizations of the United Nations (UN). Having a non-governmental organization (NGO) status, a representative of the IUNS may take part in the meetings and activities of different UN organizations such as the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Sub-Committee on Nutrition (SCN) and in this way influence decisions made on this level. The third way to act is to support local committees, task forces and projects. The areas of these actions are versatile, from food production to technology and human nutrition. The vision of the IUNS for the future was discussed and accepted in the IUNS council meeting in March 2006: “To live a life without malnutrition is a fundamental human right. The persistence of malnutrition, especially among children and mothers, in this world of plenty is immoral. Nutrition improvement anywhere in the world is not a charity but a societal, household and individual right. It is the world community's responsibility to find effective ways and means to invest for better livelihood and to avoid future unnecessary social and economic burdens. With collective efforts at international, national and community levels, ending malnutrition is both a credible and achievable goal.” The mission of the IUNS was also stated: “Promote the advancement of the science of nutrition, research and development through international cooperation globally.”

Appropriate Management of Severe Malnutrition Greatly Contributes to the Reduction of Child Mortality Rate

Appropriate Management of Severe Malnutrition Greatly Contributes to the Reduction of Child Mortality Rate

The New Nutrition Science project: Geoffrey

The New Nutrition Science project is the result of confluent thinking, especially within the past 10 years. It is a joint Initiative of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences and the World Health Policy Forum. It gives nutrition science, with its expression in food and nutrition policy, a new conceptual framework, a new definition, three dimensions and extended principles. The objective of the New Nutrition Science project is to enable nutrition science to gain all possible relevance in the circumstances of the twenty-first century. It remains work in progress. As expressed in the Giessen Declaration, the result of a workshop meeting held at the University of Giessen, the three dimensions of the new nutrition science are biological, social and environmental. Its concerns are personal, population, and planetary health and welfare. The broad conceptual framework of the New Nutrition Science project looks forward, and also marks a return to the days when nut rition science, and its predecessor discipline dietetics, had most salutary impact on public health. It takes into account the most pressing concerns that face us now, including a continued rising human population, the persistence of malnutrition, the rise of obesity and diabetes in early life, increased inequality within and between nations and populations, rapid changes in global and local food supplies, and the diminution and draining of natural resources. It is only by combining biological, social and environmental approaches that nutrition science can fulfil its potential to preserve, maintain, develop and sustain life on earth. Keywords: conceptual framework of nutrition; definition of nutrition; dimensions of nutrition; Giessen Declaration; principles of nutrition; three-dimensional nutrition science

Correction to Vol. 26, No. 2, Supplement 2

“Proceedings of the International Workshop on Articulating the Impact of Nutritional De. ciencies on the Education for All Agenda,” Osman M. Galal, Charlotte G. Neumann, and Judie Hulett, guest editors The following acknowledgments were omitted from the above-referenced supplement due to a production error in the Food and Nutrition Bulletin Bulletin's editorial's office. The editors regret this oversight. Acknowledgments The guest editors of this supplement express gratigratitude for the unique opportunity to coordinate this tude workshop and our sincere appreciation of the encouragement and interest from the people who made this agement effort possible. Geoffrey Garrett UCLA International Institute Educating Global Citizens Allen Roberts US Department of Education Grant to the James S. Coleman African Studies Center, UCLA Edmond Keller Globalization Research Center – Africa, UCLA Mark Wahlqvist International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) Zoë Boutilier The Micronutrient Initiative Linda Rosenstock Dean UCLA School of Public Health Montague W. Demment Global Livestock CRSP, University of California, Davis (USAID) We are also indebted to our colleagues who made our visiting scholars feel at home and provided invaluable service to the workshop through their assistance and very hard work. Susan Silah Mary Vardazarian Ritesh Mistry Parisa Mirzadehgan

The third annual meeting of the International Society of Pharmacogenomics (ISP): a joint meeting with the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) task force on genetics and nutrition

The third annual meeting of the International Society of Pharmacogenomics (ISP): a joint meeting with the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) task force on genetics and nutrition

'Malnutrition' in the aged: the dietary assessment.

Changing demography towards older populations requires nutritionists to review food--health relationships in regard to older age groups, to the ageing process, to precursors of disability and survival, and to the changeability of health status through diet in later life. Nutritional status in later life may be complex with combined features of under-, over- and disordered nutrition -- dysnutrition. Further, beyond food components (essential nutrients and more), foods themselves, integrals of food intake and the socio-cultural aspects of food intake play a significant role in the health and well-being of the aged and require measurement. Ageing socio-biology provides opportunities and imposes limitations on the usual food intake instruments. However, rapid assessment procedures can be particularly valuable as highlighted in the Food Habits in Later Life project of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences. There are critical issues to which dietary methodology can be applied to the aged: a disappearing knowledge base, relevant health-enhancing strategies and the creation of new food--health opportunities. Many communities now wish to use such information to develop food-based dietary guidelines for their aged members.

Self-rated health and its relationship to functional status and well-being in a group of elderly Guatemalan subjects.

This study examined the association of self-rated health with physical function and emotional well-being, while controlling for differences in sex, age and anthropometry. Subjects were participants in a multicentre study originated by the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS). A total of 151 elderly Guatemalan subjects were examined using a questionnaire which included information on self-rated health, activities of daily living, well-being, and a common battery of anthropometric variables. Adjusted odds ratios (OR) obtained with polytomous logistic regression showed that subjects with the highest score on the well-being index compared with those with the lowest were 1.67 times more likely (P-value <0.001, confidence interval (C.I.) = 1.31-2.14) to rate themselves in 'good' health versus 'fair' and 'poor' health. Subjects with the highest score versus those with the lowest on the mobility index were 1.15 times more likely (P-value <0.05, (C.I.) = 1.00-1.32) to rate themselves in 'good' health versus the other health ratings. These are the first results to examine the relationship of self-rated health to physical function and emotional well-being of elderly, free-living Guatemalans.

Fish nutrition and the International Union of Nutritional Sciences: forming links worldwide

Fish nutrition and the International Union of Nutritional Sciences: forming links worldwide