Media Release
Mangaluru, Mar 15: The postgraduate department of Studies and Research in Food Science organized a one-day National Conference on ‘Recent Advances Linking future Prospects in Nutrition’ on Thursday, March 14 at St Aloysius College. This programme was sponsored under Star College Scheme of DBT, government of India. Dr R Ananthan, scientist D, ICMR, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad was the chief guest. Fr Dr Praveen Martis SJ, principal, SAC presided over the programme.
Dr R Ananthan, in his inaugural address said that, most of the health issues occur due to the unhealthy food habits and malnutrition. “Hence, we must develop the habit of having healthy food and say no to refined food. Eradicating malnutrition and abundance of food production formulated with micronutrients is the need of the hour,” he added. He also explained the inadequacy of agricultural growth after independence and scarcity of food and elaborated on how green revolution came to our rescue. He congratulated the organizers for arranging such an informative Conference.
Fr Dr Praveen Martis in his presidential remarks spoke on obesity and malnutrition which occurs due the unhealthy food habits. He advised the participants to cultivate good food habits and take healthy balanced food. He also explained the opportunities in the field of Food Science.
There were 2 sessions during the programme. Dr R Ananthan, scientist D, and Dr S M Jayakumar, deputy director (Scientist E) both from ICMR, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad were the resource persons. They spoke on ‘Role of the Biodiversity in Food as a Recent Approach to Nutrition and Food Security’ and ‘Role of Vitamin A in Obesity and Its Associated Complications: A better Perspective through Technological Advancement’ respectively.
During the programme, 40 students were awarded for their academic achievements. Besides, there were oral presentations of selected abstracts.
Dr Richard Gonsalves, director, LCRI Block, convener, Daniella Anne Chyne, Dr Ronald Nazareth, coordinator, Star College Scheme, Dr S N Raghavendra, HOD of PG Department of Food Science were on the dais. Fr Dr Leo D’Souza, director of Applied Biology Lab and Dr A M Narahari, registrar were present during the programme.
Dr Ronald Nazareth spoke about the facilities offered under the Star College Scheme. Dr Richard Gonsalves welcomed the gathering. Ashok Kumar C compered the awards ceremony. Aparna compered the programme. Daniella Anne Chyne rendered the vote of thanks.