FAO, through its FIVIMS programme, hosted an international scientific symposium on measurement and assessment of food deprivation and undernutrition, June 26-28, 2002 in Rome. The Symposium was funded by the Netherlands. The first day featured six key note addresses: FAO methodology for estimating the prevalence of "undernourishment" by Logan Naiken, the use of household expenditure surveys for the assessment of food insecurity by Lisa Smith, individual food intake survey methods by Anna Ferro-Luzzi, measures of nutritional status from anthropometric survey data by Prakash Shetty and qualitative measures of food insecurity and hunger by Eileen Kennedy. The full papers are downloadable from the FIVIMS website. At the outset of the symposium Harwig de Haen of FAO noted that while work towards refining the FAO methodology (the basis of the yearly FAO Food Insecurity Reports) continues, there is room for complementary measures which reflect slightly different aspects of hunger. Micronutrient malnutrition received scant attention, except in a paper by John Mason, who writes: "Food intake is important for more than dietary energy and inadequate diets have serious consequences beyond hunger, growth failure and thinness. The sensation of hunger probably results from lack of food energy, which is why the concern for hunger has largely meant total food. Micronutrient deficiencies have been referred to as "hidden hunger" although the term never really caught on. Lack of nutrients aside from lack of energy has profound effects for health, for behaviour and economically. Moreover, in theory, the extent of inadequate diet quality is likely to be greater than for quantity ...". The outcomes of the symposium will be reported by FAO in the near future.
The Straits Times of Singapore has an interest in public health and nutrition The Times ran a story on July 17th about a meeting convened by WHO in Singapore in July concerning body mass index in Asians and cut-offs to define overweight and obesity. The Times quotes WHO experts as having decided that cut-offs of 25 and 30 for overweight and obesity, respectively, are not appropriate for Asian adults. The experts noted, according to the Times, that Asians have smaller frames but more fat than Caucasians. They also found that Asians over the age of 18 start to experience an increased risk of obesity-related diseases starting at a BMI of 23. This is lower compared to Caucasians, where risk starts at 25. Appropriate BMI categories for the Singapore population will be released later this year by public health authorities in that country. As cut-offs are reduced, numbers will go up. Causes are largely environmental: food intake and physical activity. Professor Philip James, chair of the International Obesity Task Force (and chair of a major report to the ACC/SCN on nutrition challenges in the 21st century published in 2000), is quoted as saying at the WHO meeting, "Singapore has been designed so you do as little physical activity as possible. It is a society of cars and machines. No one has to do much."
The XIVth International AIDS Conference took place in Barcelona, July 7-12 The theme was knowledge and commitment for action. The conference programme was full and varied, to say the least, and provided the opportunity to learn, share, participate and develop understanding. In the words of the Chair of the conference policy committee, Shaun Mellors, "we need to ensure that these conferences are not seen in isolation ... but that we use them to account for our responses and actions". Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS, speaking for Kofi Annan at the opening session said "The only effective treatment at present is antiretrovirals. However, inadequate media attention has been given to the importance of good nutrition." In a plenary address of breathtaking clarity Dr. Bernhard Schwartlander surveyed trends in the epidemic and provided projections. Some of this material appears in the UNAIDS 2002 report (see publications section). Dr. Schwartlander mentioned declining nutritional status caused by high health care costs. Robert Siliciano said, in his presentation on prospects for the eradication of HIV infection: "HIV is intrinsically incurable with antiretrovirals alone". In the scientific sessions new evidence of the large interaction between HIV, malaria and tuberculosis was presented. There were two sessions on nutrition and food security; the first organized by Ellen Piwoz of the Academy for Educational Development, and the second by four UN agencies working together (FAO, IFAD, WFP and WHO). In commenting on the very small room allocated for the session on nutritional care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS, Professor Kotler of Columbia University said that given that 95% of AIDS patients are malnourished the condition of the meeting room was "an outrage". During discussions of food security and HIV/AIDS, Professor Tony Barnett of the University of East Anglia said that although the UN agencies had documented the impacts of the epidemic in the 80s and early 90s, they " did nothing". The next AIDS congress will be in Bangkok, July 11-16, 2004.
