The country’s largest accredited organization of healthcare professionals in the nutrition and dietetics fields, the Nutritionist-Dietitians Association of the Philippines, will lead a series of scientific sessions that aim to address the most pressing issues impacting the profession.
NDAP vice president Eloisa Villaraza said the 63rd annual convention, set on Feb. 21 to 24 in Davao City, will focus on communicating the timely relevance of disseminating factual, reliable information on the latest health and wellness practices and products in this time of misinformation and rampant “fake news.”
“The organization is adamant in using digital technology to fight off false and misleading online content by spreading truthful, science-backed published information on health, wellness and nutrition,” she said of this year’s event which has the theme “Road to Excellence: Bringing Education and Nutrition Together.”
“Apart from the publication of position statements in our website/ social media page and having a pool of reviewers for published content, NDAP is very active in offering seminars with speakers who are the best in their field of expertise and bringing these seminars to provinces so more research and development can be reached and updated,” said NDAP chairperson Nives Serra.
The three-day congress aims to engage and benefit registered nutritionist-dietitians across the country, including those from the hospital sector from both private and Deparment of Health-assisted hospitals; the food and food service industry; the academe; those in the hotel and restaurant business; various government offices involved in nutrition researches and food regulation; and drug companies.
The gathering will feature dynamic analyses led by a powerhouse line-up of resource persons, in particular seven foreign speakers from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Asian Federation of Dietetic Associations who will shed light on key topics and emerging trends that are shaping the health and wellness profession.
Offering valuable insights on critical issues and the role of nutrition and dietetics professionals in today’s fast-paced and technology-driven world, among the invited key speakers are Dr. Esther F. Myers, Dr. Chwang Leh-chii (President of the Asian Federation of Dietetic Association, Taiwan), Dr. Milton Stokes (Registered Dietitian / Nutritionist and former owner of One Source Nutrition), Beatriz Dykes, Chris Vogliano (faculty and researcher of Massey University and Kent State University), Dr. Nik Shanita Safii (Associate Professor for the Dietetics Program of the National University of Malaysia), Yuan Kun Lee (Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, National University of Singapore), Shigeru Yamamoto (Professor of Jumonji University, Director of Asian Nutrition and Food Culture Research Center), and Allan B. de Guzman (Dean of the College of Education, University of Santo Tomas).
NDAP has also been reaching out to several government and non-government organizations, such as the Supreme Court and the Philippine National Police, in conducting nutrition, health and wellness programs.
“These efforts and more demonstrate the core mission and advocacies of the NDAP up to present. The essence of relevance is that it focuses on results – the NDAP is known for what it does to serve the profession to the fullest,” said NDAP president Zenaida Velasco.
