Roundtable event 2022
On 1 July we were fortunate to gather an amazing group of people at Magdalen College, Oxford, for our 2022 roundtable.
Hosted by the Chair of our Science Advisory Council (SAC), Professor John Stein, we welcomed SAC members Dr Simon Dyall, Dr Alice Parshall, and Professor Margaret Rayman; our Ambassador Kimberley Wilson; and special guests Professor Julia Rucklidge, Dr Alex Richardson and Dr Ally Jaffee, alongside our Chair, Frances Jackson, CEO, Tahani Saridar, and COO, Ann Roberts.
The day was a huge success, with some amazing discussions and contributions from like-minded individuals. Look out for some exciting action points that we will be sharing soon, related to how we can help improve both physical and mental health at both a policy and individual level.
A summary of our discussions is below:
The role of nutrition in mitigating stress and building resilience
Whilst there is ambiguity as to what defines ‘stress resilience’, discussion was had over the research on specific nutrients such as omega 3, B-vitamin and multivitamin supplementation on either markers of stress, anxiety and depression. We also discussed the challenges of undertaking pragmatic on-the-ground trials in post-trauma circumstances (e.g. after natural disasters) and the need to include multi-disciplinary colleagues in these trials, including statisticians and biochemists, to ensure comprehensive insight and analysis of data.
Maternal and baby nutritional requirements for brain development
We discussed the ISSFAL position statement on nutritional supplementation on maternal health and pre term birth; the needs of brain development at different ages; the need for greater precision in defining the appropriate intake ratio of omega-3 to omega-6; and recent industry pressure to decrease use of expensive ingredients in baby formula composition. On the topic of life stages, we also discussed the current position and research on maternal and baby nutritional requirements for optimal brain development.
Nutrition in young adults
Young adults are a cohort often overlooked despite our adolescent years being a period of intense emotional and physical growth, which requires support from nutrition. We discussed the impact of nutrition on emotional regulation and dysregulation, anxiety, depression, weight gain, and undernutrition.