by Dr. Anto Cordelia
The Nutrition Seminar Series was launched last year and is being organised annually to promote good health and well-being. To this end, the Centre for Biomedical and Nutrition Research (CBNR), UTAR,, Malaysia, The Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health (IFNH), University of Reading, The Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics Research and Training Unit (N2RTU) funded by the British Council and MIGHT, Malaysia, Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore, India along with Ministry of Health (Malaysia), and Nutrition Society of Malaysia have teamed up to organise this second seminar series with special focus on Precision Nutrition in Type 2 Diabetes to be held virtually on 17 Dec 2022, Saturday. This virtual seminar will gather around 500 participants including undergraduate and postgraduate students, research scholars, academicians, nutritionists, and eminent scientists in the field of nutrigenetics, nutrigenomics, epidemiology, genetics, nutrition and dietetics from across the globe and Malaysia.
The session will selectively showcase ongoing research, issues, and challenges in implementing the precision nutrition approach to combat Type 2 Diabetes in Malaysia and South Asian countries.
Three eminent speakers namely Dr. Vijay Ananda Paramasvaran (Malaysia), Mrs. Sudha Vasudevan (India) and Dr. Kumari Rathnayake (Sri Lanka) share their experience and knowledge in prevention and management of type 2 diabetes. Besides sharing ongoing research engagements with South Asian countries, the session will continue with a dialogue forum titled: Precision Nutrition in Malaysia: Hype or Hope?
Malaysian stakeholders will put forward discussions on implementing precision nutrition in Malaysia.
The stakeholders to present and share their views on this future foresight topic includes Dr. Mohd Fairulnizal Bin Mohd Noh (Institute of Medical Research, MoH, Malaysia), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mahenderan Appukutty (Nutrition Society of Malaysia) Mr. Shah Fahad (Adam’s Genetics, India), Dr. Kaley Oon (B-Crobes Group of Companies, Malaysia) and academician En. Muhammad Zulhusni Bin Suhaini (UTAR).
Both the events are moderated by Prof Vimal Karani S, Professor in Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics, University of Reading, UK who also spearheads the British Council-MIGHT funded N2RTU in Malaysia.
The inflation in global burden of diabetes in recent decades has had its toll in Malaysia and is expected to soar in the next few decades. Being titled “the Sweetest Nation in Asia” with 1 in 5 adults living with diabetes, this levies a huge economic burden of approximately USD 600 million. Of the 4.431 million Malaysians with diabetes in 2021, 2.175 million were undiagnosed and it is predicted that there will be 5.024 and 6.465 million Malaysian diabetics by 2030 and 2045 respectively. This raises increasing concerns about the health and economic threat imposed on the Malaysian government. On an average, diabetic individuals’ medical expenditures are approximately 2.3 times higher than non-diabetic counterparts.
The organising chairperson and the Malaysian lead for the N2RTU project Dr. Anto Cordelia said that this event has participants already registered from different parts of the world and expects around 500 individuals with diverse affiliation and discipline to benefit from this awareness programme. The seminar and forum will enthral the participants on how to overcome the risks of type 2 diabetes through lifestyle modifications.
This programme is set to create awareness especially among the youths (millennials and Gen Z) who fall short in terms of general diabetes awareness, as compared to their older counterparts.
This event is planned for half-a-day and anyone interested can register and enrich their knowledge on type 2 diabetes and precision nutrition. Interested participants can register by clicking the link below:
https://forms.gle/73FsLobSHGNAetgk9
