Speakers today at a 2:30 p.m. session, led by registered dietitian and former ADA president Ronni Chernoff, chair of ADA’s "Nutrition and Health for Older Americans" campaign, examined Obesity in the Elderly: A New Look at an Old Problem.

"This is a major public health hazard, a crisis of epic proportions," said Dr. Gordon L. Jensen, director of clinical nutrition at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. His studies of more than 12,000 elderly Pennsylvania residents indicates that a third of older people are obese--many because they were obese in middle age--and their numbers are rising.

Jensen presented new findings from his research into the "tremendous growing prevalence of obesity" in older people and its impact both on their health and on their everyday quality of life. "There are strong relationships between the degree of overweight in older people and the extent of functional limitations they suffer," he says. "We have new, quite striking data on relationships between functional limitations and increasing body mass among older women."

During the same session, William Evans, director of nutrition, exercise and metabolism at the Little Rock, Ark., Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University of Arkansas (click the picture below for further information), discussed new approaches to weight reduction and "non-medical management" of obesity in the elderly.

Ottensmall Library

Other program today

Feeding America’s Children
8 am.

Speakers: Shirley R. Watkins, MA, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
Ronald Kleinman, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School
Melanie R. Moentmann, MBA, RD, Independence Public Schools, Mo.

New research sheds light on the relationship between hunger and impaired academic, psychological and social function in children. Speakers provided practical, innovative ideas connecting federal child nutrition programs with enrichment activities for children. Shirley Watkins, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Sciences, oversees more than $40 billion in federal food assistance programs including Food Stamps, National School Meals and Women, Infants and Children. She discussed child-nutrition programs and the department’s progress in implementing any changes in programs ordered by Congress during the federal budget reauthorization process.

Biological Effects of Food Components: Modulation of Immunity
8 am.

Speakers: Gary P. Zaloga, MD, Washington Hospital Center, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Gayle K. Savy, RD, Cambridge Nutraceuticals, Boston, Mass.

Compounds present in foods possess biological actions in addition to supplying substrates for cellular function. Numerous compounds in the diet modulate the function of inflammatory cells and immunity. This presentation reviewed the effects of dietary amino acids, peptides, lipids, nucleic acids and flavonoids on the function of immune cells.

It’s Organic! Trends, Issues and What to Tell Consumers
8 am.

Speakers: Amy F. Barr, MS, RD, Horizon Organic Dairy, Boulder, Colo.
Elinorl Newman, Newman’s Own Organics, Aptos, Calif.
Bob Scowcroft, Organic Farming Research Foundation, Santa Cruz, Calif.

Speakers discussed current trends driving consumer interest in organic foods and ways to effectively communicate accurate information on organic food issues to the public. The latest USDA guidelines for organic food production and certification were discussed, along with the role organic foods play within our present and future agricultural system.

Current Controversies and Practices in Sports Nutrition
10 am.

Speakers: Claudia F. Wilson, MS, RD, University of Utah Nutrition Clinic
Robert Murray, PhD, The Gatorade Co., Barrington, Ill.
Elizabeth Joy, MD, University of Utah

Speakers examined the current science of sports nutrition and recommended practices for working with athletes. Nutrition as it relates to performance, separating myth from fact and using a multidisciplinary approach to counsel athletes was included. The female-athlete triad was also addressed.

Dietary Flavonoids in the Prevention of Heart Disease
10 am.

Speakers: Georgia G. Kostas, MPH, RD, Cooper Clinic, Dallas, Texas
John D. Folts, PhD, University of Wisconsin Medical School
J. Michael Gaziano, MD, MPH, Brigham & Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School

Dietary flavonoids are showing great promise in offering protection against heart disease. This session examined the current state of clinical and epidemiological research on several key flavonoids, discussed the mechanisms and processes by which these flavonoids appear to help prevent heart disease and provided guidance on how to effectively counsel clients regarding the role of dietary flavonoids in a healthful eating plan.

Meeting of Members and Presidents’ Lecture
12:30 pm.

Speakers: Ann Coulston, MS, RD, FADA, Stanford University Medical Center; President, The American Dietetic Association
Roberta Larson Duyff, MS, RD, Duyff Associates, St. Louis, Mo.

Coulston presided over the annual meeting of ADA members. Duyff, author of "The American Dietetic Association’s Complete Food and Nutrition Guide," delivered ADA’s 1998 Presidents’ Lecture, speaking on the value of life-long learning as a key element in professional career development.

New Frontiers in Calcium Metabolism
2:30 pm.

Speakers: Murray J. Favus, MD, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
Robert Marcus, MD, Stanford University
Clifford J. Rosen, MD, St. Joseph Hospital, University of Maine

During the past three years, several aspects of bone and mineral metabolism have undergone a substantial revision of prevailing wisdom based on the emergence of new data. This session provided summaries of three of those areas: 1) the impact of dietary calcium on kidney stone risk, 2) the impact of dietary sodium and protein on skeletal maintenance and osteoporosis risk, and 3) the emergence of selective estrogen response modifiers as alternatives to standard hormone replacement therapy in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.

Ethical Issues Affecting the Health Care Delivery System: A Look to the Future
4:30 pm.

Speakers: Alice L. Smitherman, OSB, RD, Visitation Church, Kansas City, Mo.
MaryCarroll Sullivan, RN, MTS, JD, Midwest Bioethics Center, Kansas City, Mo.
Mary Jane Oakland, PhD, RD, FADA, Iowa State University

The dietetics professional's judgment is challenged by the impact of ethical issues. This session raised the level of awareness for the dietetics practitioner of the role of ethics in nutrition care. Emphasis was placed on the interrelationship of ethics and physical, social, emotional and spiritual needs of the patient.

Other: Sale of herbal products is the fastest-growing segment in mass-market retail outlets and consumers increasingly are seeking solid, scientifically based advice on their use, said Mark Blumenthal, executive director of the American Botanical Council. Blumenthal spoke at a 10 a.m. session Use of Botanical Products in Medical Nutrition Therapy.

"Sale of herbal products went up 101 percent between the first quarters of 1997 and 1998," said Blumenthal. "They are flying out the doors. But how do we properly evaluate the benefits and potential risks associated with herbal products?" The council recently published an English translation of Germany’s "Commission E Monographs," an exhaustive, 20-year evaluation of more than 300 herbs and herbal combinations sponsored by the German government.

"This gives dietitians, nutritionists and pharmacists, for the very first time, an authoritative reference on herbal medicines, as determined by experts convened by the German equivalent of the FDA," Blumenthal said.

Blumenthal also presented preliminary results from a five-year study sponsored by the council, to be published in early 1999, of more than 400 commercial ginseng products sold in the U.S. and Canada "to determine whether they really are ginseng. One of the biggest questions we’re asked is, ‘What products can we trust? What can we reliably recommend to our clients?’ Our study shows that some of these products do not pass muster."

At a 2:30 p.m. session Flaxseed in Human Nutrition, Dr. Frank Hu, a researcher at Harvard University’s School of Public Health, presented findings from his studies of associations between consumption of alpha-linolenic acid and a reduced risk of coronary heart disease in women. Alpha-linolenic acid is found in many foods, including walnuts, tofu, soybeans, corn oil and flaxseed. Dietary consumption of ALA, a polyunsaturated fat, is essential for health because the body cannot manufacture it.

Hu and his colleagues studied records of 70,000 women who enrolled in the nationwide Nurses’ Health Study in the mid-1980s and were tracked for 14 years. "We found that a higher intake of ALA is associated with lower risks of coronary heart disease," Hu said. "We also found that high intakes of vegetable oil-based salad dressings, a main source of alpha-linolenic acid, is also associated with lower risk of heart disease among women."

Hu said his group’s findings are consistent with those of laboratory studies on animals. But he added that clinical trials with human volunteers are still needed to determine whether ALA intake actually does reduce the risk of heart disease in people.

Other speakers at the session discussed scientific and nutritional properties of flaxseed, also known as linseed. Flaxseed has been used in people’s diets for thousands of years but is undergoing a resurgence of popularity in North America as a health-promoting ingredient in baked goods. Flaxseed grain is high in dietary fiber and it contains lignan precursors, which have been found useful in preventing breast cancer and estrogen-related disorders.