Workshops held on first day of annual conference of Nutritional Society of India (NSI)

Ludhiana, November 6, 2014: Pre-conference workshops on ‘Nutrition Assessment of Community & Ethics in Human Research’ were held today on the first day of 46thAnnual National Conference of Nutrition Society of India (NSICON-2014) held in Dumra Auditorium at DMCH, Ludhiana.

The conference is being jointly organised by Dayanand Medical College & Hospital, Ludhiana and Punjab Agricultural University. The conference is based on the theme ‘Nutritional Approach for Combating Non-Communicable Diseases in India’

Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, PWD Minister of Punjab, formally inaugurated the workshop sessions. The first workshop held today in the morning was on ‘Nutritional Epidemiology which was conducted by Dr A Laxmaiah from Division of Community Studies, ICMR, Hyderabad. Those present on the occasion were Secretary of DMCH Managing Society Sh Prem Kumar Gupta, Vice Principal Dr Sandeep Puri, Chief Cardiologist Dr GS Wander, Medical Supdts Dr Sandeep Sharma.

Organising Secretary Dr Rajoo Singh Chhina extended warm welcome to the chief guest and other dignitaries present on the occasion. In his address, Dr Chhina said that today, nutrition is no longer considered to be a peripheral issue. Our policy makers have now come to recognize that achieving the nutritional wellbeing of all our people is important not only for health promotion but for overall improvement of our human resources and for national development. He ensured the participating delegates that they will definitely enrich their knowledge regarding nutrition and diet by actively participating in these workshops.

Other workshops held in the morning session include workshops on ‘Diet Survey Methodology’ by Dr Kiran Bains from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana and ‘Clinical signs of Nutritional deficiencies’ by Dr A Laxmaiah.

In the workshop held on ‘Demonstration of Anthropometric measurement procedures and Diet Survey methods’ the faculty informed thatsurveys to assess dietary intake and nutritional status of the population are essential to monitor ongoing nutrition transition and initiate appropriate interventions. In India, routine reporting of nutritional status by the health and social welfare functionaries used to be minimal. But with advent of time,  India has started invested heavily in periodic surveys to obtain data on nutrition transition Recognising the need for good quality data for monitoring nutritional status. ICMR in 1972 established the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (NNMB) in the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad. Since 1973, surveys carried out by the NNMB have been a major source of data on diet and nutritional status of the Indian population.

The day concluded with workshop on ‘Ethics in Human Research’, ‘Animal Experimentation in Scientific Research’ and ‘Meals as the emblem of Civilisation’ by Chief Cardiologist Dr GS Wander, Dr PD Judyal and Roopa Pahwa from GADVASU and Avon Ispat & Power Limited. -----------------------------

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