DHA Director-General inaugurates 1st Dubai Nutrition Conference

His Excellency Humaid Al Qatami, Chairman of the Board and Director-General of the Dubai Health Authority inaugurated today The 1st Dubai Nutrition Conference which is taking place at the JW Marriott Marquis hotel in Dubai.

The three day conference is hosted by the Dubai Health Authority and organized by MCI group. It will enable the exchange of ideas and knowledge between the different disciplines of nutrition including pediatric nutrition, nutritional support for patients with chronic illness and immune disorders, nutrition for mental health and wellbeing, nutritional support for patients with liver and pancreatic diseases, functional foods, the role of vitamin D and probiotics.

Al Qatami said: “Diet-related health problems have been identified as one of the common major global health challenges. Increasing prevalence rates of chronic lifestyle diseases reinforces the need to raise awareness and highlight the positive effects of good nutrition on health.  The importance of nutrition in the prevention of chronic disease has been recognized for some time in the global community. There is a direct link between nutrition and health. This conference aims to discuss the advances in nutrition to help promote optimal health.”

Dr. Waffa Ayesh, Chairperson of the Conference and Director of Clinical Nutrition at the DHA, said: “The importance of nutrition in the prevention of chronic disease such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes has been recognized for some time. The frontiers of science have brought forth new understanding of the importance of nutrition at various stages in our life. For example, research now shows the profound impact of nutrition during the first 1000 days of a baby’s life. Good nutrition promotes mental health and a state of overall well-being. Given this understanding, the aim of healthcare professionals is to try and educate the public that nutrition is not just about weight loss, in fact weight loss is automatic effect of good nutrition and exercise. What good nutrition does, is that it actually prevents a host of diseases and even improves the health of patients suffering from problems such as insulin resistance etc. which can be easily managed through good nutrition. The aim of this conference is to discuss evidence based effects of food on health and to discuss food based health strategies.”

She added that development of the field of nutrition is vital as it directly leads to better patient outcomes and a healthier community.