9th European Nutrition Conference

EditorialThis issue of Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism contains the Abstracts of the9th European Nutrition Conference, organised by the Italian Nutrition Society(SINU) on behalf of the Federation of European Nutrition Societies (FENS), incollaboration with the European Academy of Nutritional Sciences (EANS) andwith the participation of the International Union for Nutritional Sciences (IUNS).This first meeting of European nutritionists and their colleagues from manyother parts of the world will be centred on how the development of the food productionsystem in Europe may have affected and may affect in future the healthof the Europeans. The food system has evolved remarkably in the last few decades:new agronomic techniques have changed the quality and the quantity of availablefoods; new processing and storage techniques have extended the availability ofsome products in space and time and have indeed introduced design foods; globalisationhas wiped out political and economic boundaries, so that the veryconcept of ‘European food system’ is becoming blurred, with interesting contaminationsfrom other continents. Socio-economic and political changes have led toremarkable changes in the diet of the Europeans, who are now much more integrated,to the advantage of some and disadvantage of others. This process hasbeen going on for quite some time and we are able to see the effects on health.Epidemiological patterns of chronic diseases are extremely informative on theconnections between diet and health, and the results of pan-European cohort studies,like EPIC, are now available and will be presented at the Conference.Meanwhile, public awareness about the importance of nutrition for health andwell-being has increased, as well as the scientists’ ability to understand some ofthe connections between nutrients, foods and physiological function.The Programme of the Conference is organised along the two themes of Healthand Food, which are really two perspectives looking at the same biological andsocial object. The main nutrition related diseases, namely, cancer, osteoporosis andthe metabolic syndrome will be discussed, in a logical sequence going from the epidemiologyto the early origin, the interaction with the genetic background, the evidenceof a connection with nutrients and food and the use of foods in healthprotection and promotion. From the food side, issues in production and intake willbe dealt with. This Conference comes one year after the completion of the EuropeanCommission Framework V Programme and the results of many projects funded inKey Action 1 ‘Nutrition and health’ will be presented. The Conference will also discusspolicy issues on research, training and nutrition policy. One of the PlenarySessions will be devoted to discussing the WHO Nutrition Action Plan for Europe.