Committee, Council & SIG Updates
The Nutrition Society
Dr Caroline Childs, University of Southampton, The Nutrition Society Clinical/Medical Advisory Council member
Email: office@nutritionsociety.org
Website: www.nutritionsociety.org
Twitter: @Nutritionsoc
Instagram: the_nutrition_society
LinkedIn: /nutrition-society
It has been a busy start to the year for the Nutrition Society. The Scottish conference, 'Diet, Health and Inequalities' took place at the end of March in Glasgow, Scotland, and examined how socio-economic differences in diet and nutrition contribute to health inequalities. Health inequalities are avoidable and unfair with disproportionate impact on ethnic minorities and people living in the most deprived areas. Speakers, panellists, and delegates debated innovative ways to address this complex, multifactorial challenge.
The newly launched Nutrition Society Academy continues to go from strength-to-strength with the innovative subscription-based model. Instead of paying £14.99 for a single webinar, subscribers can access over 55 scientific and skills-based webinars from £2 per month. With new content added every month, the Academy aims to upskill Nutrition and Healthcare Professionals by providing regular, evidence-based webinars, workshops, and courses to develop nutrition science knowledge and enhance professional skills within the field.
Personally, I continue to work closely with the Association for Nutrition’s (AfN) as a Regional Representative and in my role as Clinical/Medical Advisory Council Member for the Society. I was therefore delighted to see the latest commentary ‘Long overdue: undergraduate nutrition education for medical students’ which continues to draw attention to the Jones et al. paper ‘Putting nutrition education on the table: development of a curriculum to meet future doctors’ needs’ which was published last year. It has been good to see the increasing amount of attention this issue has been receiving, and we hope to see these promising discussions continue.
We are looking forward to our annual Summer Conference which will be hosted in Liverpool, 3-6 July. With good nutrition critical at all stages of life to ensure adequate intakes of the essential amino acids, carbohydrates, essential fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals that are needed to sustain life, this year will focus on ‘Nutrition at key stages of the lifecycle’.
Looking further forward, planning has begun in earnest for the 2023 Winter Conference which will be on the topic of ‘Diet and lifestyle strategies for prevention and management of multimorbidity’. The conference will take place at the Royal Society in London, 5-6 December, and focus on the growing problem of how multimorbidity is linked to increasing lifespans, socioeconomic and lifestyle-related risk factors, including poor diet and physical inactivity. BAPEN members are always welcome to the Society’s conferences, and I hope to see many of you there.
All my very best,
Caroline
British Intestinal Failure Alliance (BIFA)
Jeremy Nightingale, Chair BIFA
Email: jeremy.nightingale@nhs.net
Website: www.bapen.org.uk/about-bapen/committees-and-groups/bapen-special-interest-groups/bifa
BIFA has now produced 21 Top Tips articles, with the 22nd out in this issue on “Managing Kidney Stones and Nephrolithiasis in Patients with a Short Bowel”. The first one on “Managing a High Output Stoma” has been updated. BIFA is working with PINNT to help produce patient friendly versions of some of the Top Tips. BIFA welcomes any suggestions for Top Tips articles, Position Statements or Guidelines. One of our greatest achievements has been in agreeing upon the “Standardised Parenteral Support Catheter Guidelines” which outline the principles for safely connecting and disconnecting a parenteral support bag.
We are seeking 2 replacement posts on the BIFA committee for Wales and Northern Ireland. If you are interested, please send to the BIFA secretary (Kirstine.Farrer@nca.nhs.uk) an expression of interest on no more than a side of A4, stating your speciality, place of work, and state the expertise/experience you would bring to the BIFA committee.
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