Webinar on “a network on Food Consumption Surveys in EMR” by NNFTRI with technical support of WHO (6-7 March 2023)

A two-day webinar titled “Food Consumption Surveys (FCS): Moving Towards A Food Consumption Survey Network in The Region” was held on March 15 and 16, 2023 by National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute of Iran in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) office in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). More than 70 researchers and officials from the nutrition department participated in this webinar, representing 22 countries of the EMR.

On the first day, after the welcome message from Professor Mortazavian, director of NNFTRI, Dr. Ayoub Al-Jawadeh, Regional Adviser, WHO- EMRO, discussed the importance of conducting a national food consumption survey network and the initiation of this project in countries such as Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan. Professor Ahmad Esmaeilzadeh, Director of the Community Nutrition Department, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, emphasized the significance of food consumption survey data for evidence-based policy making and the development and implementation of interventions to improve national nutritional status.

Following that, Dr. Maryam Amini and Dr. Samira Rabiei, Assistant Professors at NNFTRI, presented the history and experiences of food consumption surveys in the region and Iran’s role in conducting such surveys. Dr. Lara Nasreddin, a professor at the American University of Beirut, explained the different methods of data collection in food consumption surveys, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each methods, and emphasized the importance of selecting the most suitable method for comparing data for policymaking at the national and regional levels.

On the second day, Dr. Radwan Kasravi from Al-Quds University of Palestine referred to the measures taken to form a network related to the Food Composition Data  (FCD) and partner countries, as well as the measures taken to compile recipes for different foods in the countries of the region. Then Dr. Longvah, a professor at the National Institute of Nutrition, India, explained different approaches for compiling food composition data, direct and indirect sampling and measurement methods based on the available facilities.

In conclusion, Dr. Tirang Neyestani, a professor in the Department of Nutritional Research at NNFTRI, summarized the issues presented during these two days, highlighted the existing Iranian food composition table and mixed dishes recipe and announced the readiness of the NNFTRI to share these data with the FCD network in the region. This issue was welcomed by Mr. Dr. Al-Jawadeh.

 

Menu