DSM to highlight need for further research into maternal and infant nutrition
At forum taking place in Wageningen, the Netherlands
DSM aims to raise awareness of advancing research into maternal and infant nutrition at an event taking place this week (16 to 17 June) in Wageningen, the Netherlands.
The forum, International Maternal and Child Nutrition: Initiating Research through Multi-stakeholder Collaboration, will focus on the development of detailed proposals for four research themes and aims to encourage public-private partnership to advance the study of nutrition.
DSM’s contribution will form part of a wider discussion into key topics including the health and nutrition of adolescent girls, heterogeneity of response, improved dietary assessment and scaling up nutritional solutions.
Group sessions, plenary discussions and presentations will cover all of these themes.
The keynote address will be given by Manfred Eggersdorfer from DSM Nutritional Products.
The Professor for Healthy Ageing at the University Medical Centre, Groningen, will discuss the contribution that business can make to key issues in maternal and child nutrition by taking action against malnutrition and working towards a world free from hunger and obesity.
This theme is at the core of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Business Platform, a movement founded on the principle that everyone has a right to food and good nutrition. It unites nations, organisations and individuals in a collective effort.
'Many companies have been collaborating to create new solutions but these must now be scaled up,' says Eggersdorf. 'Businesses need incentives to invest, such as a supportive environment with governmental provision of a positive regulatory framework and the institutions to guarantee fair competition and encourage the multi-sector collaboration that is needed to combat malnutrition.'
The session will inform attendees that action taken in the first 1,000 days of life have the most significant and sustained impact on cognitive development and the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in adulthood. While more beneficial to childhood health, these solutions are also economically viable and have the biggest returns on investment for manufacturers.
As one of the world's largest suppliers of vitamins, carotenoids, micronutrient premixes and other nutrition ingredients, DSM says it is committed to raising awareness of hidden hunger and combating micronutrient deficiency around the world through a number of initiatives.