Nutricon 2015’ Nutrition & Lifestyle key to healthy life: Experts

KARACHI – Nutrition & Lifestyle key to healthy life, this was stated by the experts at the Nutrition & Lifestyle Conference held at a local hotel here in Karachi to raise awareness about healthy eating habits and active lifestyle.  The conference was organized by Medical News and sponsored by National Foods Ltd and Guard rice.

This annual Nutrition & Lifestyle Conference has been designed to provide industry leading research and information to feed industry professionals and nutritional consultants. The experts in the field of food science & technology converged on a single platform to share their expertise and knowledge while highlighting the prevailing nutritional and lifestyle issues.

The proceedings started with the recitation from the Holy Quran followed by welcome address by Chairman National Foods Mr Abdul Majeed who chaired the inaugural session. In his welcome address he appreciated the efforts of the organizers and thanked the speakers for their valuable support. Talking about the nutritional health in Pakistan he said that this is one of the most pressing issues facing our country today. He urged the need to create an ideal atmosphere for sharing information and developing solutions to improve the health and lifestyle of people across the country.

In his keynote address Prof Dr.M. Iqbal Choudhary Director International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences , (H. E. J. Research Institute of Chemistry, Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research), University of Karachi talked about the Botanicals for Better Life. The professor talked about the Medicines from Nature and shared the advancement already made in the field. Talking about the Discovery of Anti-epileptic Agents, Antioxidants reliably increases the protection from reactive oxygen species. In-vivo antioxidants decreases the concentration of free radicals by two mechanism, inhibitor of free radical mechanism, preventive as physiologically active compounds that inhibit the formation of oxygen radical oxidation products, he added. Elucidation of molecular mechanism of antioxidant prophylaxis should now be the next target of research in this field, he concluded.

See Nutricon’ 2015: In pictures.

Dr Rashida Ali, the Founder Chairperson and Adjunct Professor, Department of Food Science & Technology, University of Karachi, also the Chairperson, Department of Food Science and Technology, Jinnah Women University, Karachi and Consultant, English Biscuit Manufacturers, Karachi spoke about the Dietary Nutraceutical and presented her Five colour Nutrition Theory.

Prof Abdullah Umer better known as Prof Peter Baillie spoke about SCIENCE IN NUTRITION He said that nutrition should be considered as an essential early part of all patient management but this is seldom considered. Suboptimal outcomes in adult health have their origin in intrauterine programming of insulin and cortisol, he remarked.

The second session was chaired by Mr Zahid Majeed who shared the Initiatives to reduce children malnutrition in Pakistan. He also highlighted the research conducted with the collaboration of Help NGO working to support children nutrition in Pakistan with amazing results. He also shared the CSR initiatives taken by the company including the launching of Iodized Salt as a company initiative in line with their Corporate Philosophy of nutritious and healthy foods

He urged the need of conducting survey on use and importance of health food with health parishioners and conducting a workshop with health development workers on children malnutrition issues.

The next presenter was Prof Abdul Basit, Director Baqai Institute of Diabetology and Endocrinology who spoke about Diabetes and its Primary Prevention.

Prof Abdul Basit said that it is time to have primary focus on prevention of diabetes through low-cost and effective screening strategies, Massive awareness campaigns, population based implementation , Identification of roles of various stake holders, population based implementation. He also urged the need to develop advisory board linkages globally and quoted the positive outcome of such linkages including lowest salt in crisps in United Kingdom, cycling mandatory over the weekends in Brazil/ Argentina, no soft drinks vending machines in schools in Saudi Arabia and development of Scottish pizza with right ingredients and complete taste.

High prevalence of obesity and associated risk factors in urban children in India and Pakistan highlights immediate need to initiate primary prevention program for diabetes and coronary heart disease in schools.

He stressed the need for Diabetes Education for all and said that waist circumference is a big indicator and we must all watch our waist. Weight gain is one of the leading killers, Programming is being done intrauterine and MOST long term strategies ought to be PRENATAL, he concluded

Dr. Tahira Mohsin Ali, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Food Science & Technology, University of Karachi presented on Future Prospects of Resistant Starch in Low Calorie Foods. Since conventional fiber products are not pleasant to eat and the alternative is resistant starch, a unique dietary fiber. The nutraceutical benefits of RS foods include Prebiotic, Prevention of Coronary heart disease, Prevention of Constipation, Treatment of Inflammatory bowel, Increased Mineral absorption, Treatment of Diabetes 2, Weight Management and Prevention of Colon Cancer.

Dr Sarah Ikram from Aga Khan University Hospital spoke about the Altering the Diet Pattern. In here presentation she urged the need of to improve dietary quality, increase fruit and vegetable intake, decrease intake of high-energy, low-nutrient foods, reduce consumption of sugar sweetened drinks, reduce sodium in the food supply, eliminate industrially produced trans fat from the food supply, increase physical activity and prevent micronutrient malnutrition.

M. Hafizur Rahman, from Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research and International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences spoke about the Role of Herbs in Healthy Life and Management of Diabetes. He shared the list of common herbs and spices with health benefits.

Health is directly proportionate to the natural food we eat and urged the people to consume vegetables with less salt and oil, exercise to enable an easy flow of good into body and bad to outside, avoid late night activity, set proper timings of daily food intake and advised to take dinner before sunset.

Dr. Abid Hasnain Chairman, Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Karachi spoke on New “Lifestyle” and Our Health. He stressed the need to change and said that Not a new diet, but a new lifestyle and urged people to change their Lifestyle to save their lives. He highlighted the change in portion sizes over the years which is another cause for concern.

He said that there are many reason for dietary habits including change in family setups, personal grooming, food consciousness and above all media influence. He advised the people to watch what they eat or drink in order to stay healthy.

The third session chaired by Mr Shakaib Arif, Chief Operating Officer National Foods gave an overview of the company and its initiatives. He also appreciated the conference and the quality of presentations.

Saima Rasheed, Consultant Dietitian, Vice President, Pakistan Nutrition and Dietetic Society (PNDS) spoke about Women’s & Child Health. She said that changing lifestyle is the key and to achieve that we must Limit TV time, Increase physical activity with kids and Portion Control,

Also spoke on the occasion was Meena Iqbal Research and Development Dept at National Foods Ltd., on Stress Management and said that stress is the reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed upon them. It arises when they worry that they can’t cope. She shared some useful tips to overcome stress.

Adnan Tariq Khan, Deputy Manager – Quality Research & Development at National Foods talked about the “Role Of Food Industries To Overcome Malnutrition” . He said that leading food factories are now fortifying their products with important micronutrients to overcome hidden hunger which has also played a major role in reducing deficiencies in children.

The health experts advised that it is high time to improve dietary quality by consuming fruit and vegetables and at the same time improve our lifestyle, increase physical activity are the ways to help fight the obesity and key to a healthy life.

After the thunderous success of Nutricon 2015, Medical News will organize the next Nutrition and Lifestyle Conference in March 2016.