Calling for a fundamental shift in healthcare delivery, Dr. M. Srinivas, Member, NITI Aayog, today urged that nutrition, diet and lifestyle be integrated into mainstream clinical practice and undergraduate medical education.
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‘Symposium – Lifestyle & Diet: Nutrition, Wellness and Clinical Practice’ organized by Department of Physiology, AIIMS, New Delhi in association with Food Future Foundation
Addressing the inaugural session of the national symposium “Lifestyle & Diet: Nutrition, Wellness and Clinical Practice”, organised by the Department of Physiology, AIIMS New Delhi, in association with the Food Future Foundation (FFF) under the aegis of the Coalition for Food Systems Transformation in India (CoFTI), Dr. Srinivas welcomed the participation of experts from diverse disciplines, noting that collaborative dialogue is essential to address India’s evolving nutrition challenges. He called for nutrition, diet and healthy lifestyle education to be appropriately integrated into medical curricula, saying it is essential to prepare future healthcare professionals and strengthen preventive healthcare. He also urged stakeholders to work together to strengthen nutrition and lifestyle education and contribute practical recommendations for a more holistic policy approach to improving the nation’s health.
The symposium brought together leading clinicians, nutrition scientists, medical educators, regulators and policymakers, including Dr. Nikhil Tandon, Director, AIIMS New Delhi; Dr. Govind Makharia, Associate Dean (Research), AIIMS New Delhi; and Mr. Pawan Agarwal, Founder and CEO, Food Future Foundation and Former CEO, FSSAI, to discuss how emerging scientific evidence should reshape medical education and clinical practice. A major highlight was the release of the textbook Nutrition, Diet & Lifestyle: Learning and Teaching Diet, Food, Nutrition & Lifestyle in Clinical Practice, edited by Dr. Raj Kumar Yadav, Dr. Alexander Thomas, and Mr. Pawan Agarwal and developed by a team of nutrition and lifestyle experts led by senior nutritionist Parisksha Rao.
In the foreword to the book, Dr. Srinivas writes that “scientific evidence now leaves little doubt that food, nutrition and lifestyle are among the most powerful determinants of health,” yet these subjects receive “far less attention in undergraduate medical education than they deserve.” Describing nutrition as “an essential clinical competency for every doctor,” he said the textbook integrates physiology, nutrition and lifestyle medicine to help future physicians understand how everyday food and lifestyle choices influence health, disease and patient care, and expressed confidence that it would become “a catalyst for strengthening nutrition and lifestyle medicine across medical education in India.”
Dr. Ratna Sharma, Head, Department of Physiology, AIIMS, said advances in nutrition science and lifestyle medicine require a corresponding transformation in medical education. Dr. Raj Kumar Yadav, Professor of Physiology and lead editor of the textbook, said doctors must increasingly combine medical treatment with nutrition and lifestyle counselling as part of routine patient care. Prof Sheffali Gulati and Prof Vandana Jain delivered their talks focusing paediatric age group dietary therapy in epilepsy, autism, obesity, and metabolic dysfunction. Prof Naval K Vikram discussed skeletal muscles and metabolic health. Dr Ritesh Netam presented his research about high fat diet, obesity and neuroinflammation.
A key scientific session examined healthier food reformulation and the role of monosodium glutamate (MSG) in reducing sodium without compromising taste. Dr. Miro Smriga, Chairman, International Glutamate Technical Committee (IGTC), shared international experiences demonstrating how evidence-based reformulation is helping improve public health in several countries. Prof HN Mallick discussed about MSG and Dr Trina Sengupta presented findings from a recent systematic review published in Frontiers in Nutrition, concluding that MSG is safe for the general population, including infants, pregnant women and lactating mothers.
Many renowned faculty, clinicians & scientists were present during the symposium and actively participated including Prof Girija Prasad Rath (AIIMS), Prof Rajesh Khadgawat (AIIMS), Dr SubbaRao MG, (Scientist G, National Institute of Nutrition, ICMR), Ms Anuja Agarwala (Senior Dietitian), Prof Vimal Katiyar (IIT, Guwahati), Prof Jamuna Prakash (University of Mysore), Prof Komal Chauhan, Prof Seema Puri, Prof Eram S Rao (University of Delhi) and Prof Pulkit Mathur (Lady Irwin College).
Mr. Pawan Agarwal, Founder and CEO, Food Future Foundation, said the symposium marks the beginning of a larger national effort to bridge the long-standing gap between nutrition science and clinical medicine.
The symposium concluded with a broad consensus that strengthening nutrition and lifestyle medicine in medical education is essential for building a more preventive, patient-centred and wellness-oriented healthcare system in India.
