RECENT EVENTS

National Consensus on Dietary Guidelines for Adult Asian Indians for Healthy Living and Prevention of Obesity & Diabetes

A Press Conference on the release of "National Consensus on Dietary Guidelines for Adult Asian Indians for Healthy Living and Prevention of Obesity & Diabetes" was organized under the aegis of Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India, Diabetes Foundation (India), and National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation (N-DOC) on 13 November 2009 at the Deck Suite, India Habitat Centre, Lodi Road, New Delhi.

The event was chaired by Dr. MG Karmarkar, President, DFI, Dr. Anoop Misra, Director & Head, Diabetes, Obesity & Cholesterol, DFI and N- DOC, Dr. Vinita Sharma, Scientist G, Deptt of Science & Technology, Ministry of Science & Technology, and Dr. Seema Gulati, Chief Project Officer, DFI.

The dietary consensus statement has been prepared by more than 100 renowned experts from all over India for the first time. In this document we provide modified dietary guidelines in view of new India-specific research data on oils, fats and other nutrients. Indians are witnessing a rapid shift in their diet and lifestyle with rapid rise of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Proper dietary guidelines remain cornerstone of prevention and management of these diseases. An important aim is to make these guidelines user-friendly, so that these could be interpreted and used by any practitioner of medicine or even general public.

Countrywide adaptation of these guidelines is likely to have a significant impact on prevalence and management of obesity, diabetes and heart disease in India. These guidelines will soon be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

The press conference was very well attended by media persons and the event was given substantial coverage in all the leading newspapers and news channels.

Dr. Anoop Misra addressing the media		(seated L to R) Dr. Karmarkar, Dr. Anoop Misra, Dr. Vinita Sharma, Dr. Seema Gulati. (standing L to R) Priyanka Nigam, Swati Bhardwaj, Dr. Priyali Shah, Nammita Bhatia, Mr. K.C. Bhatia and Dr. Angeli Misra
A view of the media persons		Dr. Anoop Misra responding to a query
A view of the audience		Dr. Misra giving media bytes to news channels

7th Global Health Promotion Conference Nairobi, Kenya 26-30 October 2009

Dr. Priyali Shah, Project Manager, Project MARG (The Path), Diabetes Foundation (India) shared experiences on implementation of primary prevention of obesity, hypertension and diabetes in school settings in India at the 7th Global Health Promotion Conference held during 26th - 30th October, 2009 in Nairobi, Kenya, where a sub-plenary on "Diabetes and Development" had been organised. The session was coordinated by the World Diabetes Foundation, Denmark and chaired by the Deputy Director Medical Services and head of NCD Division, Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, Kenya, Dr. W. Maina.

Presentations focused on sharing the successful experiences from Brazil, Cameroon and India in terms of formulating comprehensive health systems for the prevention and integrated care for patients suffering from diabetes and hypertension; establishing prevention and care for hypertension and diabetes in a low resource setting; and primary prevention of diabetes through the school programmes across countries.

The MARG initiative by DFI was able to improve the knowledge and practice levels of children on healthy eating and behaviour. There was a significant increase in the intake of health foods, reduced intake of fried and fatty energy dense foods, increased physical activity and time spent on out door games along with improvements in glycemic parameters and lipid profiles. Sustainability of MARG has been achieved by training peer educators (students and teachers) to disseminate healthy messages to others. MARG has a snowball effect resulting in a major health movement in India. Children now have enhanced awareness of the non-communicable diseases and are wiling to change their behaviour to incorporate correct lifestyle practices for the primary prevention of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension.

The presentation was very well received and appreciated by the attendees of the sub-plenary.

Honourable President, Republic of Kenya (centre) at the chair for the 7th Global Health Promotion Conference, 26 - 30 October, 2009		Dr. Priyali Shah, Chief Project Officer, DFI, making her presentation at the Nairobi Conference.

Guest Lecture on 'Trans Fats and Chronic Diseases: Implications for the Indian Scenario'

Diabetes Foundation (India) (DFI) and National Diabetes Obesity & Cholesterol Foundation (N-DOC) organized a lecture by Dr Pramod Khosla, on "Trans Fats and Chronic Diseases: Implications for the Indian Scenario." The event was held on 17 December, 2009 at Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi.

Dr Khosla is an international scientist who has worked extensively on trans fats and is currently with the Department of Nutrition & Food Science, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI as an Associate Professor.

In his lecture, he emphasized the need for the food industry to completely remove trans fats from their products and replace them with saturated fats. If combined with a high fiber diet, saturated fats could still be managed well. He also stressed on blending of oils. A vote of thanks was given by Dr. Anoop Misra, followed by high tea.

Guest Visitors

Mr Sabri Ahmed, Chairman, Malaysian Palm Oil Board and Dr. Kalanithi Nesaretnam, Director, Product Development and Advisory Services, Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), met with Dr. Anoop Misra and his team over an informal meeting and lunch organized by DFI and NDOC at Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, on 17 December 2009. They were on a visit to promote the use of palm oil in India. Dr. Kalyana Sundram of the MPOB also met with Dr. Misra and NDOC team over an informal lunch at Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj, Delhi, on 21 January, 2010.

Diabetes Camps

We have been successfully conducting numerous health camps at Resident Welfare Associations, Sadik Nagar Community Center, Friend's Club, Safdarjung Club, Yusuf Sarai Community Center, etc.) in New Delhi, making our effort the largest campaign towards awareness of Obesity, Diabetes and related disorders in India.

Recently, we conducted a health camp at Sadik Nagar Govt. School, which was very well attended. We covered approx 255 subjects of which 70 % subjects were obese and 3 were newly diagnosed with diabetes. We conducted a free health check-up which included (calculation of body mass index, blood pressure and fasting / random blood glucose test), consultation by Doctor and lifestyle counseling as well as nutritional advice. Our team consisted of expert two medical professionals, one nutritionists and social workers. We disseminated educational material regarding diabetes and a self assessment questionnaire to gauge the risk of diabetes and other metabolic diseases in Hindi and English. We also disseminated low calorie recipes in the local language and customized diet charts according to patients' physiological conditions.

Similar health camps were organised at Kidwai Nagar Community Center on 11 Oct' 09 and taimoor nagar Shiv Mandir where 116 subjects and 125 subjects respectively were covered.

Nammita Bhatia, Priyanka Nigam and Dr. Vidya		Om Prakash checking BP of a subject
Subjects being screened at Sadik Nagar Camp		Priyanka giving tips on good nutrition to a subject.
DFI Team at Taimoor Nagar Camp		Protik taking anthropometric measurements

Symposium on Nutrition

DFI in association with Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology jointly organized a day-long symposium on Nutrition on the 5th of April 2009 at INSA (Indian National Science Academy, Delhi), wherein the data for “Multicentric DST Funded Study on Nutrition in Women” coordinated by AIIMS, New Delhi was released.

Post lunch session consisted of “Consensus Conference on Indian Diets for prevention of Obesity and related disorders.”

The event was primarily coordinated by Dr. Anoop Misra (Director and Head, Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Fortis Hospitals, and Director, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, DFI) with support from Dr. Vineeta Sharma, Scientist G, DST.

The symposium was a grand success as it was attended by over 100 delegates from pan India. The participating delegates included
nationally and internationally renowned experts in the field of nutrition and clinical medicine.

(From Left to Right – Dr. R.M. Pandey, Head Department of Biostatistics, AIIMS, Dr. Anoop Misra, DFI, and Dr. Vineeta Sharma, Scientist G, DST)		A view of the dias with eminent delegates and participants.
L to R – Mrs. Rekha Sharma, DFI, - Dr. B.M.Makkar, Diabetologist, & Obesity specialist, Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute, Dr. Anoop Misra, DFI ( lighting the inaugural lamp) and Dr. T. Sivamani, Director, DST and Chief Guest of the Symposium.		L to R – Dr. Shashank Joshi, Endocrinologist, Leelavati Hospital, Mumbai, - Dr. Misra (centre) making a point, and Dr B.M. Makkar.

Diabetes Foundation India,
C-6/57, Safdarjung Development Area, New Delhi - 110016 INDIA
Tel: +91-11-4175 9672, Fax: +91-11-2653 7091
[email protected]

Diabetes Foundation (India) (Regn no.- S/16551/8) is a non-profit organisation registered under the Societies Registration Act, XXI of 1860 on 24 April 1986. FCRA approved. All donations are exempted according to the Income Tax Act 80 G of the Government of India.