Nutrition for Health Seminar

Nutrition and metabolic changes over the life-course : bringing together perspectives from biology, demography, and epidemiology.

Nutrition is a major health determinant, but achievement of long-term health benefits by dietary intervention is rare. This paradox may be due to an oversimplistic view on nutrition, namely as the delivery of a set of nutrients only.  Broader perspectives on nutrition and metabolism may be useful to turn the health potential of nutrition into health benefits.

Gertjan van Dijk, professor in Behavioural Energetics, will present findings on the effect of environmental stressors on metabolic and vitality outcomes in rodents. In humans he studies the effect of people working in shifts on such outcomes. Hilde Bras, professor of Sociology of Consumption and Households, will add a demographic life-course perspective, where the effect of contextual factors such as women's position and birth order will be studied in relation to child nutritional status in Ethiopia. Petra Vinke, epidemiologist, will present a life-course analysis of Lifelines data, and address to which extent diet quality associates with weight change at different ages over the life-course. Hinke Haisma, professor of Population and Child Growth/Nutrition & Health, will provide a synthesis of these three perspectives, reflect on practical and clinical consequences for nutrition interventions, and open the discussion with the audience.

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