18th International Congress of Nutrition, Durban, South Africa, 19-23 September 2005.

The International Congress of Nutrition (ICN) is organised every lour years by the International Union of Nutrition Sciences (IUNS). In 2001, the ICN was held in Vienna, and in 2009 it will be held in Bangkok.

The 18th ICN was the first time this international meeting was held on the magnificent continent of Africa. This made the congress very special--attending an international congress is about experiencing the place and meeting the delegates in addition to absorbing the content of the sessions. The ICN is a large international nutrition conference--it is an opportunity to meet and listen to the 'big names' in our discipline, to share experiences with people who have the same values and ideals and to catch up with colleagues who work far afield from Australia. It is not possible to participate in every session on offer--there were 11 plenary sessions, 48 parallel symposia, 9 special lectures, 10 workshops, 1150 posters, social events and more than 2500 delegates to talk with. It is a very busy time--one should be sure to arrive well-rested, and holiday for a few days before returning home. The scope of the congress is broad--it is a very useful opportunity to develop an insight, delivered by global experts, into an area of nutrition that you are not up-to-date in. In your specialist areas (and even if you arc the global expert), it is informative to hear the range of views from across the globe. A particular conference highlight for me was enjoying a facilitated discussion on the topic of 'Obesity: individual vs social responsibility'. The razor-sharp facilitators were the always entertaining Philip James (UK) and the never irrelevant Derek Yach (USA). The discussants included Paulus Verschuren (Unilever), John Ruff (Kraft Foods), Mickey Chopra (Medical Research Council, South Africa) and Marion Nestle (New York University). The session was compelling due to the skilful facilitation that asked the hard questions of each of the participants, and the willingness of the discussants to contribute honestly held views rather than spin.

The stated theme for this congress was 'Nutrition Safari for Innovative Solutions'--and much of the congress was concerned with global nutrition problems such as food security, micronutrient deficiencies, responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other challenges facing the nutrition community. There was a recognition that many of the challenges facing the nutrition community cannot be solved by a product or procedure breakthrough, but require an integrative approach combining biological, social and environmental dimensions. This is the so-called 'New Nutrition Science'.

New Nutrition Science

The 'Giessen Declaration' results from a workshop/meeting held on 5-8 April 2005. (1) Australian participants include Professor Mark Wahlqvist, Barrie Margetts and Professor Tony McMichael. The declaration begins: 'Now is the time for the science of nutrition, with its application in food and nutrition policy, to be given a broader definition, additional dimensions and relevant principles, to meet the challenges and opportunities faced by humankind in the twenty-first century.

As originally conceived and as now usually studied and practised, nutrition is principally a biological science. This classic biological dimension of nutrition science is and will remain central. Descriptively it is concerned with the interactions of food and nutrition with physiologic, metabolic and now also genomic systems, and the effects of these interactions with health and disease. Prescriptively it deals with the nutritional control and prevention of disease and the improvement of health in humans, at all levels from individuals to populations; and also with animals and plants usually as human resources.

Those now concerned with the future of the world at all levels, from local to global, generally agree that their overriding shared priority is to protect human, living and physical resources all together, in order to enable the long-term sustenance of life on Earth and the happiness of humankind. Nutrition science is one vital means to this end.

This implies expansion and enlargement of the science, and its identification as a broad, integrative discipline, enabled to identify and address the circumstances, challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century.

The biological dimension should therefore be one of the three dimensions of nutrition science. The other two dimensions are social and environmental.'

The statement ends with: 'This Declaration emphasises that the most relevant and urgent work to be done by professionals working in nutrition science and in food and nutrition policy is in its three biological, social and environmental dimensions all together'.

This declaration recognises trends of global importance--the urban population outnumbers the rural population for the first time (ever); the industrialised food systems have a large effect on the environment that in turn affects the food systems; economic globalisation affects food systems; wealth is unequally distributed--the 500 wealthiest individuals have assets equivalent to the poorest 416 million, as a result of poverty people are losing human entitlements (or rights). Consideration of ethical principles of co-responsibility and sustainability may become more prominent in nutrition science.

Although at least some delegates asserted that this had always been their understanding of nutrition science, the articulation of the 'New Nutrition Science' and its central importance for the future of the living and physical world as well as for the human race might be recognised as a turning point for our 'Cinderella science'. The entire issue of Public Health Nutrition referenced1 is devoted to the New Nutrition Science and makes great reading.

Nutrition Leadership Program

Many regions of the world have leadership programs resourced by public and private funds for talented young people working in human nutrition. These programs provide training in team building, leadership skills and development, communication, multidisciplinary vision and help participants discover their capabilities. As a speaker from the African Nutrition Leadership Program put it, the program 'provides a platform for people from a region to meet in harmony and realise their potential'. The African Nutrition Leadership Program 2004 declaration is 'We are a new generation of Africa's nutrition leaders with a common vision and shared values to improve the nutritional well-being of the people of our continent. We recognise Africa's unique problems, challenges and opportunities and are committed through advocacy collaboration and evidence-based research and practice to reduce food and nutrition insecurity, communicable and non-communicable diseases. We will undertake this in an ethos of integrity, professionalism and mutual respect to ensure sustainability and a life-long commitment'. It is a good time to develop our own regional nutrition leadership program.

New IUNS President

For the period 2001-2005, the IUNS has been inspirationally led by its President, Mark Wahlqvist of Australia. The new president for the next four years is Ricardo Uauy of Chile, who stated in his vision for Africa: 'It is essential that Africans lead the way, although others can certainly help. Our job is to strengthen local capacity to address the pressing problems of human survival, malnutrition and welfare in Africa. As IUNS, we need to contribute to empowering Africans in their efforts; we need to support them in training and applied research, and vigorously advocate for more effective actions both in the community and globally' This statement communicates the strong spirit of collegiality, collaboration and capacity building that exists in IUNS and at each of the ICN meetings that 1 have attended. The next meeting is relatively close to home--I recommend that nutritionists make an effort to travel to Bangkok for the ICN in 2009.

Malcolm Riley 

Associate Professor

Department of Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne

REFERENCES

1 The Giessen Declaration. Public Health Nutr 2005; 8: 783-6.