17 WORLD GASTROENTEROLOGY NEWS JULY 2016 Editorial | Expert Point of View | Gastro 2016: EGHS-WGO | WDHD News | WGO & WGOF News | WGO Global Guidelines | Calendar of Events A Report on the Nutrition Summit The first European and Middle East Nutrition Summit was held in Sitges, Barcelona, Spain on 13-14 May 2016. The event, supported by Kellogg’s, was attended by 90 invited delegates from around the world. All delegates were experts in different fields, such as nutrition, dietetics, public health policy, psychology, pediatrics, and food industry. As co-chair of the 2016 WDHD campaign, “Diet and the Gut,” I attended the meeting as a representative of the World Gastroen-terology Organisation (WGO). The aims of the event were as follows: • To provide an opportunity for scientific discussion between ex-perts from Europe and the Middle East about the possible role food industry can play in enhancing public health through improving daily nutrition, • To create an environment for the development and strengthening of professional relationships within a community that shares a passion for nutrition, and • To discuss current understanding of the role that grain-based foods can play in improving consumer’s daily diets as well as their overall health. The program included a series of lectures and workshops intended to address some of the hot topics in nutrition, as well as plenary sessions to discuss the nutritional science that underpins the abovementioned objectives. Over 20 renowned experts in the fields of digestive health, food behavior, sustainability, philanthropy, nutrition, and public health delivered their talks. Each talk was 20 minutes and the event covered a substantial overview of many subject areas. The meetings allowed for a broad exchange of information among people from all over the world and the pre-arranged one-on-one meetings with faculty pro-vided a further opportunity to further explore topics that were of interest to delegates. Drs. Evelyn Hannon and Jan de Vries showed that micronutrient deficiencies are a universal problem across the region, demonstrating that fortified foods are both needed and going a long way to fill micronutri-ent deficiencies. Drs. James Brett and Omar Ahmad Obeid emphasized the importance of breakfast as an important meal of the day and how an optimal breakfast can help in weight management. While discussing the evolutionary need of sugar, fat, and salt, Dr. Kees de Graf emphasized that the sweet taste is inborn and hard wired and that the preference of salt comes up before the age of six Govind K. Makharia, MD, DM, DNB, MNAMS Professor Department of Gastroenterology and Human Nutrition All Institute of Medical Sciences New Delhi, India Professor Govind Makharia presenting at the Nutrition Summit.
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