Food Matters Live
This 3 day free Conference and Exhibition, sponsored by a variety of institutions, organisations and companies, was held at ExCel London recently.
Val Bullen, our Director of Education, went to the Thursday session to meet up with a speaker we had met at the Obesity Week Conference in Boston. Julie Meyer gave a talk on how Big Data can help inform nutritionists and dieticians in their work. The term ‘Big Data’ is being used a lot nowadays. It refers to the increasing amount of data that can be captured, communicated, aggregated, stored, and analysed for many purposes, mainly to inform business about their consumers. However it can also be used to inform clinical decisions such as monitoring dietary intake while in hospital. Following the talk, Val went to meet with Alacalc representatives to view their extensive programme that can be used to determine ingredients lists, recipes etc – very useful when attempting to create recipes for particular dietary requirements, as we will be doing in some of our short courses.
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Nursing Times AWARDS
CCH were delighted to be invited and to attend the Nursing Times Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel in late October. The awards aim to highlight, acknowledge and recognise the important work nurses do on a daily basis. The awards raise the profile of the nursing profession demonstrating the quality of work and inspiring initiatives being undertaken by nurses in all specialties and settings. The national awards ‘showcase the superb innovations that are shaping and improving nurse-led care in the NHS and independent healthcare providers’. Over 1,200 nursing professionals filled the room to hear which initiatives have inspired the nursing community over the last year.
It was a truly inspirational night and we felt delighted to have been a part of it. We congratulate all of the winners and finalists at this year’s awards. CCH are taking inspiration from the desire of nurses to be continually professionally updated with the development of our Professional Short Course, Living and Working with Obesity, designed for nurses.
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Obesity Week: Where Science and Treatment Meet, Boston, Massachusetts
Over 5,300 people from across the world descended on the city of Boston for Obesity Week 2014. Obesity Week is the biggest obesity conference in the world attracting a wealth of expert speakers in the obesity field. The week kicked off with a welcome reception at the Museum of Science in Boston where Obesity Week attendees had the unique opportunity to explore the 30 different exhibits and attractions, whilst also connecting with obesity professionals from across the globe. Nine allied health organisations teamed up with Obesity Week to create provocative symposia on hot topics within obesity science and management. The week was filled with presentations showcasing new elements of cutting edge science in obesity, advances in clinical management of obesity, and obesity public policy. In between presentations there was time to visit the exhibitors and learn about new products being used in the treatment of obesity which will be incorporated into our courses.
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Rethink Energy, Reshape the World at C3 Collaborating for Health Breakfast Seminar
On an autumnal morning in October CCH attended, at the Royal Society of Medicine, another C3 Collaborating for Health breakfast seminar. The seminar was given by Peggy Liu of JUCCCE, a non-profit organisation aiming to create a more ‘liveable China’. With 12% of China’s population diabetic, and 50% pre-diabetic, Ms Liu highlighted the need for urgent action to be taken in China particularly as rapid urbanisation is disconnecting people from nature and food. Ms Liu spoke of JUCCE’s ‘A new way to Eat’ programme that teaches primary school children in China how to eat in a way that is not just good for them but for the planet as well. Change in China is happening at great speed and the government reforms are often practical but radical – such as the policy to limit meat consumption as well as the banning of the consumption of endangered species.
The JUCCCE programme will incorporate gamification and social media to engage children and encourage them to make healthier food choices.
Read MoreHealthy, Wealthy and Wise? at C3 Collaborating for Health’s Breakfast Seminar
In the summer, members of the CCH team attended C3 Collaborating for Health’s July breakfast seminar with Dr Robert Lustig of the University of California, San Francisco. Dr Lustig, author of Fat Chance, a controversial book about the toxic role of sugar in health, spoke about de-bunking the 3 ‘myths’ of non-communicable diseases in his talk ‘Healthy, wealthy and wise?’. The first of these myths outlined by Dr Lustig was that the metabolic problems attributed to obesity can’t be wholly responsible for obesity, as the number of people with a BMI less than 30, and who are metabolically unhealthy is greater that the number of those who do have obesity and are unhealthy. The second myth that Dr Lustig sought to debunk was that ‘a calorie is not a calorie’ and that calories from sugar, particularly fructose, are the biggest problem. The finalmyth to be de-bunked was that of personal responsibility, and that we often do not have the means, access or knowledge to purchase healthy products. The talk generated a lively debate amongst attendees and sparkedsome thought provoking questions.
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ASO Congress 2014 – Birmingham
The Association for the Study of Obesity (ASO) held its first two day Annual National Congress at the University of Birmingham in September. The meeting comprised a series of plenary lectures from leading obesity researchers with topics ranging from ‘Can we blame our genes when our jeans don’t fit’ by Dr Giles Yeo to ‘Are all calories equal’ by Professor Ian Macdonald. In between lectures there were breakout sessions which explored issues such as early life (0-6 years) obesity: determinants and interventions; weight loss maintenance-what works for whom?; new insights on obesity from neurobiology, as well as exploring food addiction as a useful concept to tackle obesity. CCH was particularly delighted that Professor Pinki Sahota of Leeds Beckett University, and a member of our Academic Advisory Board, was elected Chair of ASO.
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