Nutrition Conference to be Held At the Rockefeller University; Researchers Will Address Prevention of Childhood Obesity and Related Chronic Diseases.

Health, Food and Lifestyle Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 28, 2001

Recent clinical research indicates that obesity and related diseases, such as diabetes and coronary heart disease (CHD), are increasing in children and adolescents.

On October 4, 2001, scientists will meet at The Rockefeller University in New York City for the "Fourth International Conference on Fats and Oil Consumption: Prevention of Childhood Obesity and Related Chronic Diseases" to discuss how optimal nutrition can help prevent these serious chronic diseases of childhood.

The presentations will focus on the most recent clinical, molecular and genetic research, and the implications of research suggesting that what we eat may program the appetite controls in the gut and brain to encourage obesity and related diseases. Jan Breslow, M.D., head of the Laboratory of Biochemical Genetics and Metabolism and Frederick Henry Leonhardt Professor at The Rockefeller University, and Barbara Levine, Ph.D., Co-Director, with Dr. Breslow, of the University's Human Nutrition Program, are co-chairs of the October 4th conference.

"These are exciting times in research on chronic diseases such as obesity, atherosclerosis and diabetes, which are now increasingly affecting children and adolescents," said Dr. Breslow. "Medical scientists have now isolated genes that can predispose a person to atherosclerosis and which play important roles in the development of obesity and diabetes. In particular the genes that affect obesity appear to play an important role in appetite regulation. In addition, scientists are now looking at how the composition of certain nutrients may affect the molecular regulation of appetite."

The scientific, clinical and public health aspects of nutrition research are closely linked and have implications throughout life. "In our Human Nutrition Program, we see that, in many cases, diseases associated with nutrition have a pediatric origin with a geriatric outcome and children who are overweight are more likely than normal weight children to become obese adults," Dr. Levine said. "This increases their lifetime risk of developing life threatening conditions such as coronary heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, and some cancers."

According to the Third Harvard Growth Study, in which a cohort was followed for over 50 years and resurveyed, deaths from cardiovascular disease and colon cancer were more likely for those who, as adolescents, were above the 75th percentile for body mass. Eating properly throughout life, and especially in infancy, childhood and adolescence is the ultimate goal of health educators in the field of nutrition, said Dr. Levine.

The October 4th conference is targeted to dietitians, nutritionists, pediatricians, nutrition researchers and others in health care, research and industry interested in achieving optimal nutrition in childhood. The conference is funded by an educational grant awarded to The Rockefeller University by the International Olive Oil Council.

For information on how to register, call or write to: Rachel Miller, Human Nutrition Program, The Rockefeller University Hospital, 1230 York Avenue, 66th Street Gate, New York, New York 10021. Telephone [phone]; fax [phone]; e-mail: [e-mail]. The full-day conference, including continental breakfast, lunch and coffee breaks, is $100 for health professionals, $45 for students and $200 for industry representatives.

John D. Rockefeller founded Rockefeller University in 1901 as The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. Rockefeller scientists have made significant achievements, including the discovery that DNA is the carrier of genetic information. The University has ties to 21 Nobel laureates, six of which are on campus. Rockefeller University scientists have received this award for two consecutive years: neurobiologist Paul Greengard, Ph.D., in 2000 and cell biologist Gunter Blobel, M.D., Ph.D., in 1999, both in Physiology or Medicine. At present, 34 faculty are elected members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Celebrating its Centennial anniversary in 2001, Rockefeller-the nation's first biomedical research center-continues to lead the field in both scientific inquiry and the development of tomorrow's scientists.