The Food and Nutrition Services of Dr K M Cherian's Frontier Lifeline Hospital in Chennai has organized a workshop on dietetics titled 'Trends in Dietetics 2010'.

The programme was aimed at practising dietitians, nutrition students and the teaching faculty from Chennai and other cities in the South. The workshop focused on new trends in clinical nutrition and emerging topics in foods and nutrition.

The various topics that were discussed included cardiac disease in women, controlling the epidemic of diabetes, role of media and information technology in health and nutrition education, evaluation of herbal products and the role of the dietitian in kidney diseases.

The participants also debated over genetically modified foods - its effect on the human body, the impact on the environment and the overall risks and benefits of genetically modified food. The use of enteral pumps for automatically delivering measured rates of tube feeds in Intense Care settings was also demonstrated.

There was also a poster competition on 'Preventing Childhood Obesity' in which many took part enthusiastically with colourful posters and creative ideas.

Dr S Elango, director, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, who was the chief guest, said, "It's extremely important to address emerging issues in health and I am glad to be here to inaugurate this workshop. I am pleased that Frontier Lifeline has taken the initiative to organize a workshop for nutritionists, students and academicians to share and update their knowledge and also learn new concepts."

A special programme for counselling families of paediatric patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) named PeNCE (Paediatric Nutrition Counselling and Education) was launched by the Chief Guest.

Nirmala Jesudason, consultant - Food & Nutrition Services, Frontier Lifeline Hospital added, "The technological advances and the accelerated pace of change in the food and nutrition science has made continuous learning a lifelong culture in our profession."