This is a complete schedule of all major symposia, controversy, workshop, update, lectures, and special sessions at EB2010. There remain a few missing precis which will be added and the minisymposia will be added after they are scheduled in December 2009
ANAHEIM, APRIL 24-28, 2010
The ASN Headquarters hotel is the Anaheim Hilton, 777 Convention Way, located 100 yards from the Anaheim Convention Center
Our scientific sessions will begin on Saturday, April 24 and will continue through Wednesday April 28, 2010
8:00AM-NOON- Symposium: State of the Science of Diet and Mental Energy [sponsored by ILSI North America] Chairs: Fran Seligson and John Milner
Evidence that foods, or their components, offer benefits beyond basic nutrition continues to intrigue and captivate the scientific and health care communities, as well as the general public. As part of this program, attention will be given to unraveling the concept of “mental energy,” i.e., the ability to perform mental tasks, the intensity of feeling energy/fatigue, and the motivation to accomplish mental and physical tasks. This symposium will focus on the current scientific understanding of reported effects of meals, foods, and food components on mental energy and the relative sensitivity of the tools to measure and substantiate those effects.
The program will begin with an introduction of the scientific questions involved with mental energy research and an overview of a conceptual model of mental energy. The results of the comprehensive literature search will be presented, including areas of consensus and emerging science. Subsequent speakers will provide fundamental insight into the characterization of the most important site of action of bioactive food components (including caffeine and carbohydrates) on neurocognitive pathways and identify research gaps in our knowledge of this topic. These presentations will help the participants increase their understanding of“mental energy” as an important construct for eating behavior and provide further knowledge about the physiological response to food and food components. Finally, a concluding panel discussion aims to identify applications of this work and future research directions.
10:30AM-12:30PM - Symposium: The Role of Magnesium and Novel Cation Channels in Inflammatory Asects of Cardiovascular/Renal/Metabolic Disease: From Molecule to Patient. Chair: Andrea Rosanoff
This Symposium will first quantify the current low nutritional magnesium status of the US population, both generally and in the hospitalized population, and discuss this low status in context of the nation's calcium intake and the Ca:Mg ratio.It will then discuss the roles of nutritional magnesium at cellular and physiological levels in inflammation, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and hypertension, describing the impact of current low magnesium status in these disease processes. The final talk will use diabetes as a model to discuss the challenges in assessing magnesium status for diagnosis and therapy in the clinical setting.This symposium is developed by the not-for-profit Center for Magnesium Education & Research in conjunction with the four excellent speakers who will present their latest research in this fast-changing field.
10:30AM-12:00 NOON [Part I] - Symposium: Aging 2010: Challenges and New Opportunities for Clinical Nutrition Interventions in the Aged. Chairs. Johanna Dwyer and Mary Ann Johnson
1:00PM-2:30PM [Part II] - Symposium: Aging 2010: Challenges and New Opportunities for Clinical Nutrition Interventions in the Aged. Chairs: Johanna Dwyer and Mary Ann Johnson
The aging population is a major demographic challenge that will define the 21st century. This two part symposium provides information at the cutting edge of basic and clinical nutrition science of broad interest to participants, with the potential for translation into clinical applications to improve patient or population outcomes. National trends in population aging, chronic disease, and nutrient intake will be reviewed. The symposium will focus on the many complexities of nutrition and aging, such as heterogeneity of the older adult population in terms of race/ethnicity and nutritional, physical, mental, cognitive, social, and economic status; maintenance of or increased micronutrient needs along with decreased energy needs; uncertain benefits of caloric restriction in the aged human; food insecurity and lack of access to food coexisting with a high prevalence of overweight and obesity; and controversies regarding the safety, efficacy, and application of clinical interventions for prevention and management of overweight and obesity in older adults. The symposium is designed to provide participants with a review of existing and emerging issues in aging and nutrition, to present the latest evidence regarding interventions for these issues, and to discuss implications for current nutrition practice and future research.
3:00PM-5:00PM - Symposium: Nutrition at the Forefront of Medical Education. Chairs: Sachiko St Jeor, Douglas Heimburger, PM Kris-Etherton, Richard Eisenstein
There is impressive evidence demonstrating the benefits of good nutrition practices on morbidity and mortality, increased longevity and decreased risk of many chronic diseases. It is also clear that the dietary practices of persons in the U.S. do not meet current dietary recommendations. Because of their role in health care, physicians are well positioned to help their patients adopt healthy dietary practices. Inherent to this is the pressing need to expand the nutrition expertise of the physician community so that they can advocate the value of good nutrition practices to their patients. Achieving this objective would be expected to have a significant impact on the health of Americans, and attendant health care costs. This symposium will present innovative programs and ideas for building educational programs for medical students, residents and fellows and expanding the healthcare team to include dietitians, and nutritionists involved in both the basic and clinical sciences to develop meaningful applications. Innovative models that have demonstrated excellence in both practice and research will be discussed by former recipients of the Excellence in Medical/Dental Education Award from the ASN and/or PIs of the Nutrition Academic Award Program (NAA) and CTSAs sponsored by NHLBI, NIH.
3:00PM-5:00PM - Symposium: The Science of Exercise for Obesity. Chairs: George Blackburn and Caroline Apovian
This year physical activity represents a particularly promising and pertinent area for translational research in obesity medicine. The recently released Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, recommends regular exercise as powerful way to improve health. Since obese patients are often a uniquely sedentary cohort, exercise may be a promising treatment option. Differences in feasibility and adaptations to exercise may, however, differ in obesity due to the presence of complex co-morbidities, bio-behavioral interactions, and altered physiological responses to training. The symposium will provide an overview of the science of exercise in the treatment of obesity and metabolic disorders. Experts in the field of exercise physiology, skeletal muscle metabolism, and public health will provide an integrative review on how exercise protocols might enhance current practices in obesity medicine.
8:00AM-10:00AM - Presidential Symposium: Nuclear Receptors as Metabolic Sensors for Nutrients and Metabolism. Introduction by ASN President Rob Russell. Chair: Johan Auwerx
10:30AM-12:30PM - Symposium: Dietary Regulation of microRNA Expression and Cancer Prevention. Chairs: Cindy Davis and Nancy Turner
The goal of this symposium is to describe the emerging area of gene regulation by microRNAs (miRNAs), the role of dietary components in modulating miRNA expression and the relationship with cancer risk. miRNAs are an abundant class of short noncoding RNAs that are widely expressed in mammalian cells and are important in posttranslational gene regulation, including regulation of cell proliferation,apoptosis, and differentiation processes. miRNAs are involved in cancer initiation and progression and their expression patterns serve as phenotypic signatures of different cancers. Recent evidence suggests that dietary components exert cancer protective effects through modulation of miRNA expression. miRNAs may be useful as biomarkers of cancer prevention or nutritional status, as well as serve as potential molecular targets that are influenced by dietary interventions. Speakers for this symposium include Drs. Carlo Croce (Ohio State University), Robert Chapkin (Texas A&M University), Razelle Kurzrock (MD Anderson Cancer Center), Igor Pogribny (National Center for Toxicological Research, Arkansas) and Sharon Ross (National Cancer Institute). The speakers will provide: 1) an overview of gene regulation by miRNAs, 2) a description of how select dietary components influence miRNA expression; 3) evidence demonstrating dietary regulation of miRNA expression in a variety of cancer cells, and 4) an update on current NCI funding opportunities for miRNA research.
10:30AM-12:30PM - Symposium: Challenges of Integrating Genomics, Dietary Guidance and Risk Reduction into Nutrition Policy: Vitamin E, a case study. Chairs: Michael McBurney and Maret Traber
3:00PM-5:00PM - Symposium: Responsive Feeding: Promoting Healthy Growh and Development for Infants and Toddlers. Chairs: Kristen Hurley and Maureen Black
Deviations in postnatal infant/toddler growth patterns (failure to thrive or rapid weight gain) are major global public health concerns that can have long-lasting impacts on children's weight, health, and development. Although access to food plays a central role on postnatal growth, variability in the feeding context also influences children's eating behavior and growth. The goal of this symposium is to communicate the theoretical basis, multi-national scientific evidence, and the policy and program issues related to responsive feeding and its influence on child weight gain and development. Issues of responsive feeding are embedded in psychological and anthropological concepts that require multidisciplinary investigation and intervention. A diverse group of presenters representing nutrition, psychology, anthropology, and public health policy will discuss domestic and international issues related to responsive feeding among families of infants and toddlers.
3:00PM-5:00PM - Symposium: Minerals and Regulation of Gene Expression. Chairs: James Collins and Shannon Kelleher
While the essentiality of dietary minerals has long been appreciated, a full understanding of their diverse functionality is just beginning to unfold. Exciting new data directly implicate dietary minerals in the molecular regulation of gene expression via transcriptional mechanisms. Regulation of these events has far-reaching implications in areas including the regulation of calcium signaling pathways, activation of the hypoxic response and immune function. The goal of this symposium is to bring nutrition scientists up to date on this emerging area of research, specifically with respect to recent advances in our understanding of calcium, iron, zinc and selenium biology. A diverse group of presenters who will speak to these topics will include Drs. Frank Gonsalez (NCI), Roger Sunde (University of Wisconsin), Jose Naranjo (Centro National de Biotecnologia, Madrid, Spain) and Robert Cousins (University of Florida). These speakers will aim to (1) define mechanisms by which minerals have direct effects on the regulation of genes related to the homeostasis of particular nutrients; (2) describe recent findings regarding regulation of gene expression by minerals; and (3) consider the possibility that changes in transcriptional initiation rates is a common mechanism by which dietary minerals regulate gene expression levels. This symposium will be dedicated in honor of the late Dr. John Beard who contributed greatly to our current understanding of the regulation of iron metabolism.
3:00PM-5:00PM - Symposium: ASN Student Interest Group Symposium: Who Is Responsible for Nutrition in the United States? Understanding the Role of Government Agencies and Interagency collaboration in Nutrition Policy, Promotion, Education, and Outreach. Chair: Emily Tomayko
8:00AM-10:00AM - Symposium: Present and Emerging Clinical Applications of Amino Acids. Chairs: Susan Hutson and David Baker
The goal of this symposium is to critically review recent progress in the use of specific amino acids to enhance health/treat disease.This symposium is not the story of a single amino acid; the talks highlight different stages in the continuum of bench to bedside research, starting with clinical applications and ending with basic research.The amino acids covered in this symposium are found in commercial amino acid supplements that are used by the general population. In addition, there is evidence from basic science research that suggests that amino acids, either singly or in combinations, offer potential benefits in clinical applications. The conditionally essential amino acid arginine is the first feature story which will be presented by Leticia Castillo, MD, Texas Children's Hospital, Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.New clinical studies will be presented showing that arginine, improves human protein synthesis and insulin resistance when supplemented under pathophysiological conditions.The second talk, presented by ChangHong Li, PhD, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, showcases how recently discovered genetic disorders are helping our understanding of amino acid functions in control of insulin secretion, and improving treatment in human patients.The next talk is a potential emerging area.Claims for branched-chain amino acid supplements suggest leucine boosts immune function, helps in recovery from exercise, and helps in dietary weight loss regimens, but evidence for these claims is problematic. Jonathan Powell, MD, PhD, JohnsHopkinsUniversity, Baltimore, will address new results suggesting a role for branched-chain amino acids in immune function, specifically T-cell activation and tolerance.The final talk will be on glutamate,which is widely used as a flavor additive and nutritional supplement in human nutrition.Alexander A. Bachmanov, PhD, MonellChemicalSensesCenter, PhiladelphiaPA will bring genetic differences into focus using an animal model to shed insight into how individual humans differ in effects of ingested glutamate.
8:00AM-10:00AM - Symposium: Dietary Glycemic Index: Are We Ready to Use it for Healthier Eating? Chairs: Allen Taylor and F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer
Everyone wants to live a long and healthy life. Yet options for achieving this with no new technologies are limited. Recent epidemiologic and clinical studies indicate that maintaining a lower dietary glycemic index (GI) is associated with diminished risk for multiple age-related diseases in humans. These include age-related maculopathy and cataract , type 2 diabetes, and CHD.Importantly, GI is related to several debilities which were not previously mechanistically linked, affecting tissues that are exposed to high levels of oxygen and have high blood flow, and tissues which are almost anaerobic and have no blood flow.Calculations indicate that the salutary benefit is gained with minor diet modification yet the personal health benefit is crucial and cost savings to the health care systems would be in the billions per year to the health care systems.Nevertheless, the field remains controversial.Active debate surrounds methodologic issues and interpretation of data.This controversy's symposium will take the form of a disputation- with a brief introduction by the moderator, then talks by luminaries in the fields. Each talk will be followed by response/rebuttal and counter arguments - all with the objective of providing for the audience authoritative opinion on use of a glycemic index as a guide to healthier eating.Information regarding potential pathobiologic mechanisms regarding GI will be offered.
10:30AM-12:30PM - History of Nutrition Symposium: History of Folate. Chair: Barry Shane
Folic acid fortification of the food supply is the first national intervention program to address an increased nutritional requirement by a small subset of the population susceptible to birth defects. Although fortification has reduced the number of neural tube defects, the level of fortification may not be optimal for maximal reduction because of concerns that high folate may have adverse effects, especially in groups that are not targets for the fortification. Initial concerns centered around the ‘masking' of vitamin B12 deficiency symptoms, a potential problem in the elderly. More recently, additional concerns have been raised that high folate exacerbates the development of vitamin B12 deficiency and may increase tumor growth rates. While these emerging concerns are by no means certain, they raise significant public health questions that will need addressing over the next few years. The topics covered in this symposium will provide the historical background for many of these current concerns. They will provide an opportunity for the membership to re-aquaint themselves with the pioneering early studies on the discovery of folic acid, its role in cancer prevention and birth defect reduction, and the interaction between folate and vitamin B12, and how these studies can inform current nutritional policy.
10:30AM-12:30PM - FNB Update: Standards, Strategies, Evidence, and Guidelines. Chair: Linda Meyers
The last year has been a productive one for the Institute of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Board, with a number of expert committee reports that included ASN members and that are of special relevance to the nutrition research community. The session will features presentations about several of the reports released in late 2009 and early 2010, in particular: revision of nutrition standards for the School Lunch and Breakfast Programs, strategies for reducing sodium intake, evidence framework for obesity prevention decisions, and new guidelines for weight gain in pregnancy. A brief update on projects underway, including review of DRI for vitamin D and calcium and front of package rating systems and symbols will also be provided by the Food and Nutrition Board chair at the start of the session By the end of the presentations, the attendees will be aware of new translation of science into standards, strategies, guidelines, and evidence framework from the Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine. By the end of the presentations, attendees will have a greater understanding of how ASN members have contributed to developing expert, independent advice through FNB activities.
10:30AM-12:30PM - The ASN PIC Symposium: Healthy Earth, Healthy Eating: Connecting Sustainability and Nutrition. Chairs: Gregory D Miller and Jeannie Gazzaniga-Moloo
Key to sustainability of the delicate equilibrium among a healthy diet and a healthy earth is the balancing of food systems that are ecologically sound, nutritionally appropriate, and economically viable. This symposium will provide an account of sustainable food systems from a consumer, an environmental and nutritional, and an economic perspective. The session will begin with an overview of how sustainable food systems play an essential role in promoting health and wellness for people and the earth. There will be discussion on the need to broaden the definition of what constitutes a sustainable diet to include those foods and beverages that are not only environmentally responsible, but also promote health and wellness. The symposium will present new data on consumer's awareness, attitudes, and perceptions of food, food safety, and the interplay between health and wellness and sustainability. We will hear from experts on the economics of eating healthy and sustainable. There will be discussion of policies needed to move large systems in a sustainable direction and policies needed to support sustainable practices. This symposium will set the stage for discussions to guide sustainable food systems that meet at the intersection where environmentalists, consumers, and industry must convene in order for there to be adequate nutritious food for generations to come with minimal impact on the environment.
12:45PM-1:45PM - Special Session. Roadmap for Agricultural Research at USDA. Chair: TBD
3:00PM-5:00PM - Symposium: Sodium in the Food Supply: Challenges and Opportunities. Chairs: Douglas DiRienzo and Eric Hentges
American consumers have long been advised by governmental and some professional organizations to moderate sodium intake in order to improve blood pressure.The session will include the presentation of new data on sodium and potassium intake levels as well as sources of these two nutrients.Speakers will also discuss the latest knowledge on how salt taste develops, the economic impact of a low sodium diet and low sodium products in the food supply, as well as address emerging opportunities and challenges facing food manufacturers as they strive to meet the demands of the public health community and consumers.This session is also timely as the report of the current IOM Panel on Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake is expected to be released in February 2010.
3:00PM-5:00PM - Symposium: Role of Adipose Tissue Architecture and the Extracellular Matrix in Metabolism and Disease. Chairs: Sean Adams and Philipp Scherer
Epidemiological evidence points to a clear association between obesity and increased disease risks, yet many questions remain regarding mechanisms underlying this increased risk. What makes excess body fat so detrimental? Might the nature of the adipose tissue matter most, and what characteristics dictate “healthy” vs. “unhealthy” white adipose tissue (WAT)? Evidence is mounting that a previously-underappreciated aspect of WAT, the extracellular matrix (ECM), plays a role in regulating inflammation and obesity phenotypes: for instance, diet and obesity influence the WAT expression and activity of ECM modulators such as matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and metabolic dysfunctions associated with obesity are largely ameliorated in collagen VI knockout mice. Fat tissue naturally undergoes plasticity changes with shifts in energy balance, so it is perhaps not unexpected that the ECM is crucial to normal adipose physiology. Symposium speakers have been selected who are at the vanguard of this field, and will discuss (1) how obesity and nutrition impact the character of the adipose ECM, (2) how shifts in the ECM and related architecture impact inflammatory and metabolic phenotypes, and (3) the role of adipose tissue metalloproteinases and other players in regulating these processes. Furthermore, new perspectives on the links between adiposity, nutrition and breast cancer risk will be introduced, with an eye toward asking how the ECM might play a role in these associations.
3:00PM-5:00PM - Symposium: Dissemination and Implementation Approaches to Move Nutrition Education Effectively Down the Translation Pathway. Chairs: Cindy Fitch and Cathy Kapica
Funding streams for health behavior research emphasize the development and testing of new interventions and dissemination on websites or at national meetings. This process is incomplete because it does not lead to the next phase of the work; studying best practices for program dissemination, adaptation for diverse audiences, and implementation with alternate delivery models, under varying circumstances, and with differing cultures, ages, or geographical locations. Consequently, under the current system, educators produce program after program with little regard for real world research issues in program delivery. Researchers who may want to rigorously test the adaptation of existing programs with a strong evidence base for effectiveness with different groups find it difficult to obtain the resources to do so. The gap between evidence-based nutrition education programs and translation to diverse audiences becomes even wider for those who are implementing SNAP-Ed, WIC, or other educational programs for diverse audiences with little access to funding for adoption or sustainability of the programs. For most public health, nutrition, or Extension program researchers, this results in the accumulation of boxes of tested products, a pileup on the translational pathway at the interface of research and practice, with funding available only for the development of yet another randomized, controlled trial.
The objective of this symposium is to examine the applicability of the science and the opportunity for its dissemination and implementation in health promotion research. The program will provide an overview of the fundamentals of dissemination and implementation research with examples from colleagues addressing the issues, comments from the USDA on available funding streams and examples of successful programs, and a summation of enhancements needed in the current system.
8:00AM-10:00AM - Symposium: Systems Genetics in Nutrition and Obesity Research. Chairs: Naima Moustaid-Moussa and Brynn Voy
Many chronic diseases result from gene-environment interactions. Genome-wide association studies are beginning to uncover alleles that correlate with increased disease susceptibility, but rarely do they shed insight into the mechanisms through which genetic variation alters disease-relevant traits, nor are they typically capable of detecting susceptibility through gene-environment interactions.Diet is plausibly the most variable environmental component between individuals, and the need for methods to understand how diet differentially interacts with genetic background to alter disease susceptibility is critical toward advancing disease prevention and realizing the potential of personalized genomics. Systems genetics offers the means to fill such knowledge gaps by revealing connections from genetic variation through intermediate phenotypes, such as gene coexpression networks and biochemical markers to overlying systems level phenotypes.
The Objective of this symposium is to educate the nutrition science community about the use of systems genetics as a tool for linking genetic variation to nutrient metabolism and energy balance and the overlying effects on health and disease. The audience will learn about the basic concepts of systems genetics, the utility of genetic reference populations for gene-environment interaction studies, and the general analytical framework used in systems genetics studies as well as the role of natural genetic variations in disease susceptibility and response to nutrients. Two specific examples of systems genetics applications will be presented, one in which the approach is being applied to understand how genetic variation in calcium and vitamin D metabolism impacts disease endpoints, and another that focuses on genetic variation and spontaneous exercise will be discussed. The session will conclude with a perspective talk about the role of genomics in nutrition research, with an emphasis on population-based studies and the impact of genetic variation.
8:00AM-10:00AM - Minority Affairs Committee Symposium: Nutrition and Health Disparities. Chairs: Kristie Lancaster and Odilia Bermudez
Although it has been almost 25 years since the 1985 report of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary's Task Force on Black and Minority Health on health disparities was published, there are still considerable gaps between whites and other ethnic minority groups in the prevalence, severity, and outcomes of some diseases. Several of these disparities involve diseases that can be prevented or treated with nutrition intervention, such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. Reasons for these disparities are multifactorial, and can differ by ethnic group. Possible factors influencing disparities include level of acculturation, lack of access to healthcare, diet and activity patterns, and poverty-related stress, among others.
The proposed symposium will serve to begin a discussion within ASN about some of the factors influencing these disparities. The goal is to examine the critical issue of disparities in nutrition and health status between whites and ethnic minority communities in the U.S. Specifically, the proposed symposium will look at contemporary issues in the health disparities field such as acculturation and nutrition-related disparities in Latinos, obesity in Native Americans, the higher mortality risk of Asians at lower BMIs, and vitamin D, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease in African Americans.
10:30AM-12:30PM - Controversy: Weight Management: How Much Protein is Enough? Chairs: David Heber and William Evans
10:30AM-12:30PM - Workshop: Applications of Modeling Techniques to Identify Mechanisms Involved in Obesity. Chairs: Heidi Johnson, Mark Hanigan, Kelly Swanson, Sung Woo Kim
The use of mathematical modeling techniques to quantify factors involved in energy intake and expenditure offers insight into mechanisms of obesity. With large amounts of experimental information available in the obesity area, quantitative tools to process and integrate information will speed discovery. This workshop will encompass an integrative approach to understanding factors leading to obesity. Topics that will be presented include using mathematics to describe physiological processes involved in obesity, understanding whole body energy metabolism using a model and using mathematical modeling techniques to interpret lipid metabolism data. Comparing experimental data to simulated results from mathematical models will highlight the quantitative importance of mechanisms involved in obesity and provide a different perspective to see if the current understanding of factors involved in obesity can explain observed clinical data
12:45PM-1:45PM - Special Session: The Atwater Lecture.
3:00PM-5:00PM - Symposium: Women in Science and Medicine. Chair: Simin Meydani
This symposium will address issues concerning the professional development of women scientists. It intends to raise awareness of the barriers to the advancement of women in academia as well as to foster the growth of women in scientific careers. Despite an increased number of women in all science and health-related fields, women still receive lower research support than their male colleagues, have lower salaries and have not reached the top academic ranks in a ratio representing their numbers. Several organizations at the national level including NIH have formed committees to address the obstacles that women in science and medicine face in their professional development. Thus, this symposium will deal with the issues facing a wide-range of women professionals: those beginning or developing their careers as well as those veterans with long careers who are in leadership positions or who aspire to be. Planned speakers for this symposium include Dr. Simin Nikbin Meydani (Jean Mayer USDA-HNRCA at TuftsUniversity), the coordinator and chair of this symposium. She will introduce the symposium and its speakers with a presentation entitled: “Expanding the opportunities for women in science and medicine.” Five speakers will provide an overview of the unique challenges facing women in basic and clinical biological science careers in the following presentations: 1) Mentoring, networking, 2) Demystifying the promotion process, 3) Diversity, cultural competencies, hiring, and retaining a diverse workforce, 4) Women leadership and 5) Strategies to increase leadership opportunities for women—why should men care?
3:00PM-5:00PM - Symposium: Multiple Micronutrient Interventions During Early Childhood: Moving Towards Evidence-based Policy and Program Planning. Chairs: Usha Ramakrishnan and Lynette Neufeld
8:00AM-10:00AM - Symposium: Does Physical Activity Alter Energy Balance, Body Weight, and Related Health Outcomes. Chair: John Jakicic
Physical activity is commonly recommended as a component of weight control. This session will focus on a review of the literature related to the contribution of physical activity to weight loss and weight maintenance. This session will also raise the issue of individual variability in the effect of physical activity on body weight which may be a result of individual energy compensation. However, even in the absence of significant weight loss, physical activity may have independent effects on other health related outcomes in overweight and obese individuals. This session will blend these key aspects to provide a comprehensive perspective of this important public health topic.
9:00AM-10:30AM - Symposium: The Assessment of Food Intake in Individuals and Groups: Current State of the Art and Future Directions. Chairs: James Hill and Susan B Roberts
Measurement of food and nutrient intakes is of central importance in a wide range of research studies on nutrition and health, and several different methods are available for different types of investigations. However, it is well established that most individuals underreport their food intake when traditional methods are used. In addition, the degree of bias is known to differ substantially between different population groups and can change over time in interventions, making conclusions from most dietary studies very uncertain. This widely recognized problem leads to continuing uncertainty in many areas of public health such as the extent to which nutrition and behavioral interventions can change eating behavior, how food intake differs between individuals with different disease trajectories, and even in such basic areas as the relationships between dietary intake and risk of disease.
This symposium will critically review recent advances in the field of food intake methodology, identifying objective and novel approaches that are currently available or under development that can reduce or eliminate bias from different types of methods, both at the level of data collection and in post-collection data processing.
11:00AM-12:30PM - Symposium: Innovative Approaches to Improve the Assessment of Dietary Practices in Clinical and Epidemiologic Research. Chairs: Amy Subar and Carol Boushey
This session will introduce EB attendees to new technologies that are being applied to dietary assessment and database management to advance the field of nutrition research.Scientists working in nutrition research face daunting problems in trying to collect and code dietary data that accurately represent a respondent's consumption.Yet, there is a vision that with new technologies, accuracy in reporting and coding will be improved, and respondent burden lessened.Collectively, the goal is to provide scientists with innovative tools that can be used in population and clinical based studies to provide accurate dietary intake data while minimizing cost and burden.The hope is that these new methods will translate into higher quality dietary data collection in epidemiologic and clinical nutrition research.Further, data with less measurement error, would result in more precise estimations of relationships and tests of hypotheses, and significant reductions in sample sizes required for population based research. Any researcher who needs to evaluate diet as a direct exposure, a potential confounder, or as a descriptor in human research will be interested in this session.Research projects and programs have avoided collection of dietary data due to lack of expertise or conservation of resources.The introduction of these automated systems will allow wider adoption of dietary assessment methods.