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Posters and Presentations
This page features posters and presentations given by NUTRIMENTHE partners at events and conferences.
CELSE 2010, 13-15 October 2010, Cyprus
Dr Pauline Emmett from partner, the University of Bristol, gave a presentation entitled “Maternal diet and fatty acids levels in pregnancy in relation to child IQ” at the 5th Conference of Epidemiological Longitudinal Studies in Europe. Using data collected from pregnant women registered on the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), Dr Emmett and her colleagues have been investigating the relationship between maternal diet in pregnancy and fatty acids levels in maternal blood and how these relate to cognitive development in children aged 8. The findings from this study showed that eating fish in pregnancy was associated with improved verbal IQ in children aged 8 years. However this was not necessarily due to the omega-3 fatty acids contained in fish. There are many other nutrients in fish which may have been important, including Iodine and Vitamin D. Dr Emmett and her colleagues will be continuing to investigate this further.
International Life Sciences Institute symposium “Nutrition and Cognition – Towards Research and Application for Difference Life Stages” Malaysia, 19-21 October 2010
NUTRIMENTHE was represented at the International Life Sciences Institute conference in Malaysia by Dr. Josephine Wills, the Director General of the European Food Information Council. Dr. Wills presentation focused on recent developments on research into consumer perceptions of associations between nutrients in specific foods or in supplements and brain health, cognition and mental alertness. Different life stages from pregnancy through to old age were used as examples. The presentation included recent work from NUTRIMENTHE’s consumer study (Workpackage 10) on what parents regard as the role of diet in mental performance.
Second World Congress of Public Health Nutrition, Portugal 23-25 September 2010.
Dr Bernadette Egan from partner, the University of Surrey, presented a poster “The role of diet in the mental performance of children – what do parents think?” at the Second World Congress of Public Health Nutrition. Parents play a pivotal role in the establishment of children’s food choices and eating habits however there is little published research on parent’s perceptions of the effect of diet on children’s mental performance. This study recruited parents of children aged 4-10 in four European countries (UK, Spain, Germany and Hungary) and asked them their views on the mental effects of food. The study showed that parents often mentioned attention and concentration as aspects of mental performance affected by particular foods and referred to the effect of food manifesting itself in changes to a child’s mood and behaviour Parents acknowledged that establishing good eating habits in childhood was important as these habits would continue into later life, with possible long-term effects on health.
43rd Annual Meeting of the ESPGHAN, Istanbul, 10-12th June 2010
Dr. P. Dziechciarz from partner, The Medical University of Warsaw presented a poster looking at the results of a systematic review of randomised controlled trials on the effects of omega-3 supplementation during pregnancy and/or lactation on neurodevelopment and visual acuity in babies and children. 13 randomised controlled trials were found from search of MEDLINE, EMBASE and The Cochrane Library. The authors concluded that no clear and consistent benefit could be found for neurodevelopment and visual acuity from supplementation with omega-3 during pregnancy/lactation. This poster was also presented at the Power of Programming Conference on Developmental Origins of Health and Disease.
The Power of Programming International Conference on Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, Munich, 6-8 May 2010
Dr. Marek Ruszczynski from partner, The Medical University of Warsaw, presented a poster giving the results from a systematic review of the literature regarding the effects of iron supplementation on the mental performance and psychomotor development of children. Five randomised controlled trials were found from a search of MEDLINE, EMBASE and The Cochrane Library. The authors concluded that of the limited evidence available, iron supplementation of infants may positively influence children’s psychomotor development, while it does not seem to alter their mental development or behaviour.
Dr. Claire Horton, from partner, Beta Technology Ltd, presented an overview of the Nutrimenthe project and it’s progress to date. The poster providing results and information from a number of NUTRIMENTHE workpackages.
