DSM leads Lunch & Learn Symposium at International Vitamin Conference 2014
DSM leads the Lunch & Learn symposium at the International Vitamin Conference currently taking place in Washington DC
DSM is leading the Lunch & Learn symposium at the International Vitamin Conference in Washington DC, with Dr Alain Labrique from Johns Hopkins University. The forum, entitled “Nutrient intake and status — mobile platforms are transformative”, focuses on the development of new technologies to measure vitamin status.
Senior scientific experts Dr Manfred Eggersdorfer, Dr Michael McBurney and Dr Peter Weber, from DSM Nutritional Products, are presenting “Nutrients – perspectives on intake and status”, covering the importance of adequate nutrition and, moreover, nutrient status.
The presentation explains how a balanced nutritional profile is a powerful way to contribute to health, wellness and performance, while inadequate nutrition is linked to serious, irreversible consequences for health and development. Malnutrition with inadequate micronutrient intake is recognised to be an issue for millions. The presentation also addresses a recent analysis of intake surveys conducted in Western countries, such as the US, Germany, UK and the Netherlands, which revealed that consumption of micronutrients fell behind recommendations.
However, DSM’s experts will consider how nutrient status is in fact more important than nutrient intake, because intake assessments are often distorted by under- or over-reporting. Measuring concentrations of nutrients in blood or urine helps to assess and evaluate the status for population groups, as well as individuals, compared to recommendations. This data can be used both in setting vitamin and mineral fortification regulations and also by individuals to care for optimal nutrition.
An inadequate status of the essential nutrients has consequences on long term health by an increase of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like osteoporosis, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. NCDs are by far the most relevant reason for impairments and death nowadays, with more than 40% of NCDs taking place before the age of 70. World Health Organization (WHO) states that the risk for non-communicable diseases can be reduced by lifestyle, with nutrition being an essential part. Approximately one third of cancers and up to 80% of heart disease, stroke and diabetes type 2 deaths are preventable.
DSM will also explore an approaching step change from hunger satisfaction to healthy nutrition. “mHealth” is a new development which provides personalised feedback on nutrition status. Mobile phones connected to sensors offer opportunities for personalised assessment, providing the benefit of allowing users to follow and track nutritional requirements according to lifestyle. New developments are moving fast and the first approaches are currently now available on the market. Available tools measure and calculate energy needs, give information on nutrient content of food items and also increasingly measure individual status and act as a personal coach, which may contribute to a healthy and active lifestyle of individuals and societies.
Dr Alain Labrique is presenting “mHealth – improving nutrition programming”, which will cover mHealth further and explore how advances in computing capacity combined with the global spread of communications infrastructure have led to public health innovations that help deliver health information and services. As will be discussed, mHealth projects are leveraging mobile technology to improve nutrition programming, from improved population surveillance and tracking to patient support. mHealth strategies for improved nutritional wellness span the continuum from under- to over- nutrition. Across Africa and South Asia, mHealth strategies are being used to monitor childhood growth and improve early identification of malnutrition.
In nutrition research, mobile systems are supporting the faster, less onerous implementation of large trials, allowing data to be collected, processed and analysed with greater speed than with paper-based systems. In high-income settings, the decreasing cost of wearable devices has resulted in widespread adoption of individuals using mobile technologies to quantify their own activity and approximations of caloric expenditure – some of these even integrate into clinical data feeds, permitting more granular tracking of individual nutritional status. Several studies have generated evidence in support of mHealth complements to traditional nutritional counseling, extending efficacy by expanding the reach and frequency of interactions between individuals and their caregivers.
The Lunch and Learn session informs attendees about the new approaches and models available and can be used to assess the impact and benefit of nutrition, providing information about the individual status and adequate nutrient intake.
