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Suttie Delivers Atwater Lecture

John Suttie, the Katherine Berns Van Donk Steenbock Professor in Nutritional Biochemistry at the University of Madison-Wisconsin, and Editor of the Journal of Nutrition, presented the 2002 Agricultural Research Service W.O. Atwater Memorial Lecture at Experimental Biology 2002 in April in New Orleans. Dr Suttie spoke on "The Metabolic Role of Vitamin K: A Historical and Future Perspective."

 

Elizabeth Johnson Joins USDA as Senior Food and Nutrition Advisor

Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman has announced the selection of Elizabeth Johnson, MS, RD, as senior advisor on food and nutrition issues at the US Department of Agriculture.

 

5-A-Day Partnership

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman recently announced an unprecedented public/private partnership alliance of federal agencies, private industry, and health organizations to increase promotion of the 5-A-Day for Better Health Program. 5-A-Day is the largest nutrition education initiative in the world, promoting 5 to 9 daily servings of fruits and vegetables ("the original fast foods," notes Secretary Thompson) to improve health and reduce risk of chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension.

 

Nursing Home Health Assessments

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released quality-of-care data from more than 2,500 nursing homes in 6 states (Colo, Fla, Md, Ohio, RI, and Wash) from information filed as required reporting for Medicare and Medicaid participation. To learn more, visit http://www.medicare.gov or call 800-633-4227.

 

Les Dames International Receive Culinary Awards

Congratulations to the following members of Les Dames International for recent culinary awards: International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) Lifetime Achievement finalist: Mary Abbott Hess, Chicago; IACP Cooking Teacher of the Year: Linda Carucci, Oakland, Calif; and James Beard Foundation Award Winners: Lidia Mattichio Bastianich, New York (Outstanding Chef Award), and Sherry Yard, Los Angeles (Best Pastry Chef Award), and Janet Fletcher, San Francisco, CA (Journalism Award).

 

2002-2003 American Dietetic Association Board of Directors

The American Dietetic Association (ADA) announces its Board of Directors for 2002-2003: Susan T. Borra, RD; Stella Cash, MEd, MS, RD; Kathleen Cobb, MS, RD, CD/N; Sonja L. Connor, MS, RD, LD; John B. Coombs, MD; Robert Earl, MPH, RD, LD; Sylvia Escott-Stump, MA, RD, LDN; Judith A. Gilbride, PhD, RD, CDN, FADA; Gregory Jewell; Rachel K. Johnson, PhD, MPH, RD; Marilyn Laskowski-Sachnoff, MA, RD; B. Thomas Malone Jr., MS, RD, LD; Kathleen Niedert, MBA, RD, LD, FADA; Martin M. Yadrick, MS, MBA, RD, FADA; Melinda Zook-Weaver, MS, RD, LD; and Ronald S. Moen.

 

United Nations Update on Children

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly recently held a special session on children that included a review of progress since the first World Summit on Children in 1990. Successes include near eradication of polio and the reduction in child deaths by 3 million worldwide. Shortfalls include the AIDS epidemic worldwide and slow progress in reduction of malnutrition. Plans for the future include efforts to reduce low birth weight and under-5 child malnutrition by 33% by 2014. Goals also include eliminating iodine-deficiency disease by 2005, eliminating vitamin A deficiency by 2010, and reducing iron deficiency and other anemias by 33% by 2010.

 

Free Online Interactive Food Directory

US Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have developed an online directory to get information fast on 1,147 common foods, with 30 nutrient categories, including protein, fat, energy, cholesterol, and carbohydrates. For each nutrient, you can also have the directory sort alphabetically by names of foods or by nutrient content, highest to lowest. To access the directory visit http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR14/wtrank/wt_rank.html. Find out if your food has the right stuff.

 

In Memoriam: Donald S. Frederickson

Donald S. Frederickson, MD, 77, who joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) more than 50 years ago and served as its director from 1975 to 1981, died on June 7. During his tenure at the NIH helm he was viewed as "the ambassador of the life sciences to the highest levels of the federal government," mediating controversial discussions on ethics and created safeguards to encourage further research. An international authority on lipids, he also served as head of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) from 1966 to 1968 and popularized the tests that led to later NHLBI campaigns to "Know your number" (ie, your serum cholesterol).

 

Calendar

August 24-29, 2002. Ninth International Congress on Obesity. Sao Paulo, Brazil. Visit http://www.iotf.org/conferences/ico2002.htm.

 

September 5-6, 2002. "Nutritional Genomics and Proteomics in Cancer Prevention." Masur Auditorium, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. For information contact Ms. Susan Warner at 301-670-4990, e-mail [email protected], or visit http://cancer.gov/prevention/ngpcp2002.

 

September 18-20, 2002. Thinking Globally-Working Locally: A Conference on Food Safety Education. Radisson Hotel, Orlando, Fla. For information visit http://www. fsis.usda.gov/Orlando2002 or contact Joan Lindenberger, Public Affairs Specialist, USDA FSIS, telephone: 202-205-0428; fax: 202-720-9063; e-mail: [email protected].

 

September 23-27, 2002. World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) Global Forum 2. Arusha, Tanzania. For more information visit http://www.waba.org.br/wbw2002.htm or e-mail [email protected].

 

September 24-25, 2002. Dietary Supplements: First Asian Conference of Government and Industry. Sofitel Central Grand Plaza Hotel, 1695 Phaholyothin Rd, Chatuchak, Bangkok, Thailand. For information visit http://www.iadsa.org or contact Simon Pettman, IADSA, 50 rue de l'Association, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium, fax +32-(0)2-223-30-64; e-mail [email protected].

 

September 24-27, 2002. Congrilait, the 26th International Dairy Foundation (IDF) World Dairy Congress, Palais des Congres de Paris, 2 place de la Porte Maillot, 75017, Paris, France. For information contact Laurus International/ Congrilait 2002, 16, rue Felicien David, 75016 Paris, France; telephone: +33-(0)1-45-20-95-45; fax: +33-(0)1-45-20-46-28; e-mail [email protected]; or visit http://www.congrilait2002.com/uk.

 

September 30-October 4, 2002. XII Latin American Congress of Nutritionists and Dietitians. Caracas, Venezuela. For information, visit http://www.confelanyd.org.

 

October 6, 2002. 43rd Annual Meeting of the American College of Nutrition (CAN). For information contact CAN, telephone 727-446-6082, fax 727-446-6202, or e-mail [email protected].

 

October 7-8, 2002. The Healthy Schools Summit: Taking Action for Children's Nutrition and Fitness. Ronald Reagan International Trade Center, Washington, DC. For information contact the American Dairy Council at 1-800-416-5136.

 

October 19-22, 2002. Food and Nutrition Conference and Exhibition. 85th Annual Meeting of the American Dietetic Association. Philadelphia, Pa. For information visit http://www.eatright.org/fnce or call 1-800-877-1600.

 

October 24-26, 2002. The World Food Prize, Des Moines and Ames, Iowa. For information visit http://www.worldfoodprize.org or telephone 515-245-3783.

 

November 7-10, 2002. "Feminist Perspectives on Body Image, Trauma and Healing." The Renfrew Center Foundations's 2002 Annual Conference for Professionals. Philadelphia Airport Marriott, Philadelphia, Pa. For information contact Debbie Lucker at 1-800-RENFREW or visit http://www.renfrewcenter.com.

 

November 9-13, 2002. Putting the Public Back into Public Health. The 130th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the American Public Health Association (APHA). For information write the APHA at 800 I St, NW, Washington, DC 20001-3710, telephone 202-777-2742; fax 202-777-2530; or visit http://www.apha.org/meetings.

 

January 26-29, 2003. Fifth International Conference on Dietary Assessment Methods. The Dusit Island Resort Hotel, Chang Rai, Thailand. For information contact Secretariat Office, 5th International Conference on Dietary Assessment Methods, Institute of Nutrition Mahidol University, Phutthamonthon 4 Rd, Salaya, Nakhon Pathom 73170, Thailand; telephone 66-2-889-2168; fax 66-2-441-9344; e-mail [email protected]; or visit http://www.mahidol.ac.th/mahidol/nu.

 

February 23-27, 2003. "Nutrition Goals for Asia-Vision 2020". New Delhi, India. Contact President, IX Asian Congress of Nutrition, Nutrition Federation of India, C-13, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi-110016, India; telephone +91-11-6857814; fax +91-11-6560106; e-mail acn2003@yahoo. com; or visit http://www.acn2003india.net.

 

April 24-26, 2003. 2nd Congress of the International Academy of Nutrition and Aging (IANA). Albuquerque, NM. For information visit http://www.healthandage.com/html/min/iananda/content/Albuquerque.htm.

 

Julie O'Sullivan Maillet Leads American Dietetic Association

Julie O'Sullivan Maillet, the 77th president of the American Dietetic Association, took office June 1. Maillet is chair of the Department of Primary Care and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Research at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Health Related Professions. Before joining the university in 1978, she served as clinical nutrition manager at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and as an adjunct faculty member at New York University. Congratulations, Julie!