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Rome Nutrition Week 2025

Hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), this event brings together world leaders, researchers, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and nutrition experts to address urgent issues in nutrition and sustainable food systems.

This year, Rome Nutrition Week will take place from Monday 26th May to Friday 30th May, under the theme of “Coherent policy and action for better nutrition”.

Nutrition Week will be an opportunity for in-depth conversations such as working better together, finding efficiencies and adopting more coherent policy approaches.

Its main objectives are the following : 

  • Raise the visibility of nutrition issues for stakeholders in Rome 
  • Ensure that agrifood issues are central to the approaches and thinking of a wide variety of nutrition stakeholders, and vice versa
  • Highlight the need for coordination and coherence to ensure successful nutrition integration at global, regional and country levels 
  • Continue momentum from Nutrition For Growth (N4G) 2025 towards other high-level moments 

With the broader international community, Rome-Based Agencies (RBAs) play a crucial role in advancing sustainable and long-term solutions to malnutrition, particularly by supporting local actors and driving the transformation towards sustainable food systems. Improved nutrition is a pillar of FAO’s Strategic Framework (2022-2031); the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is actively working to strengthen its focus on nutrition through its nutritional Action Plan (2019-2025) and for World Food Programme (WFP), nutrition is a cross-cutting priority integrated across all objective of its Strategic Plan (2022-2025).

Rome Nutrition Week 2025 will feature a series of different events held throughout the city, including panels, roundtables and various expert meetings. Approximately 3 events per day will be hosted by the RBAs, each highlighting different dimensions of nutrition aligned with the main theme. 

For more details of Rome Nutrition week, please visit the UN Nutrition website.

Nutrition Society of India: Report on Nutrition and Public Health Activities organised by the Various Chapters of Nutrition Society of India

The Nutrition Society of India (NSI) has been actively advancing the field of public health and nutrition through a wide range of impactful programs across its regional chapters. From expert-led workshops and national conferences to innovative community outreach initiatives, NSI continues to demonstrate its commitment to promoting nutrition education, disease prevention, and sustainable health practices. Each chapter has contributed uniquely to this effort, addressing critical issues such as obesity, non-communicable diseases, women’s health, and youth engagement.

For a comprehensive overview of these commendable activities, please refer to the full report here.

Update of the German Nutrition Society (DGE) position on vegan diet – Position statement of the DGE

In this DGE position statement on vegan diet, not only health aspects were considered, but also the additional dimensions of a sustainable diet, namely environmental, social and animal welfare. However, the approaches for evaluating the impact of diets on the social and animal welfare target dimensions are not yet sufficiently established and have not been comprehensively applied. Therefore, the position statement on vegan diet focuses on the health and environmental dimensions.

 

A vegan diet has been found to have potential advantages and disadvantages for health compared to other diets. For the general population, a vegan diet, like other diets, can be health-promoting, provided that vitamin B12 is supplemented, the food selection is balanced and well-planned, and the nutrient requirements of potentially critical nutrients are sufficiently covered (possibly also via further nutrient supplements).

 

For vulnerable groups, i.e. children, adolescents, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and elderly people, the DGE cannot make a clear recommendation either in favour of or against a vegan diet due to limited available data. Due to the risk of potential, possibly irreversible consequences if not implemented properly, vegan diets in vulnerable groups require particularly well-founded nutritional knowledge.

 

Therefore, for these groups nutritional counselling by qualified specialists is strongly recommended for adequate implementation.

 

A vegan diet is particularly environmentally friendly and is a recommended measure to reduce the environmental impact of food systems.

Taking into account both health and environmental aspects, a diet with a significant reduction in animal-based foods is recommended. 

 

Free access to position statement and eSupplement.

Day 1 Wrap-Up: The Way to IUNS – ICN 2025 Webinar

Joint IUNS & FENS Scientific Webinar
Global Nutrition: Problems & Determinants

The first day of the Joint IUNS & FENS Scientific Webinar was a great success, bringing together experts and attendees from across the globe to discuss pressing issues in global nutrition. With a highly engaged audience of over 185 participants globally, Day 1 set the stage for a comprehensive exploration of nutritional challenges and determinants worldwide and a preview of the forthcoming IUNS-ICN in Paris in August https://www.icn2025.org/

Key Highlights from Day 1

Welcome and Introduction

The event began with a warm welcome and introduction by Jacques Delarue (IUNS/FENS/SFN, France), who outlined the webinar’s goals and the importance of addressing global nutrition issues.

He also gave an exciting overview of the upcoming IUNS-ICN congress in Paris in August 2025, the early bird registration is open until early May 2025, and IUNS is proud to offer 20 travel grants for early career people with an accepted abstract. To find out if you are eligible,e see here: https://iuns.org/iuns-icn/early-career-travel-grant/ applications are open until 21 April 2025. 

Session 1: Sustainable Development and Micronutrient Deficiencies

Lynnette Neufeld (IUNS/FAO) presented on the Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2) and challenges and progress in achieving its targets. She provided valuable insights into the measurement and evaluation of nutritional improvements worldwide.

Andrew Prentice (MRC Unit, The Gambia @ London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK) followed with an overview of the progress made in combating micronutrient deficiencies globally, highlighting the remaining challenges.

Kevin Cashman (University College Cork, Ireland) delved into micronutrient deficiencies among children in Europe, emphasizing the Zero Hidden Hunger EU project, while Haeng-Shin Lee (Center for Biohealth Policy & Research, Korea Health Industry Development Institute, Korea) provided insights into similar deficiencies in Asia.

Ana Fernandez Gaxiola (Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca, Mexico) addressed the issue in pregnant women and children under five in Latin America, underscoring the regional disparities and intervention needs.

Marko Kerac (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK) introduced the CHANGE Project, which investigates the links between child malnutrition and adult non-communicable diseases (NCDs) to inform future policy and practice.

Session 2: Nutrition Policies and Obesity Trends

After a break, the discussions resumed with a focus on nutrition promotion policies. Kremlin Wickramasinghe (WHO, European Region) examined the progress and challenges faced in Europe regarding nutrition policy implementation.

The issue of obesity and its determinants was a major focus, with Professor Hardinsyah (IPB University, Indonesia) presenting findings on Indonesia’s obesity prevalence, while Mónica Mazariegos (Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama, Guatemala City, Guatemala) explored the implications of the nutrition transition in Latin America and potential policy directions.

Round Table Discussion

The day concluded with an engaging round table discussion moderated by Marcela Gonzalez-Gross (FENS and SEÑ) and Jacques Delarue (IUNS/FENS/SFN). Panellists exchanged ideas on tackling global nutrition challenges, fortification, reinforcing the importance of cross-sector collaboration with all stakeholders.

Looking Ahead to Day 2

With an informative and thought-provoking Day 1 behind us, we eagerly anticipate Day 2, where we will dive deeper into solutions and innovations in global nutrition. Stay tuned for more insights and discussions!

Thank you to all our speakers and attendees for making the first day successful. We look forward to more tomorrow.

New IUFoST Scientific Information Bulletin: Biotechnology for Functional Foods

Use of Biotechnology to Develop Probiotics as Potential Functional Food

The International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) yesterday released its latest Scientific Information Bulletin on Use of Biotechnology to Develop Probiotics as Potential Functional Food for the global food science and technology community represented by more than 300,000 food scientists, technologists, engineers and related social scientists worldwide working with IUFoST. This Scientific Information Bulletin (SIB) may be of interest to those serving in academia, industry, government, and development organizations.

“The concept of functional food came into existence to improve the nutritional quality of the diet beyond basic nutrition, thereby potentially reducing risks associated with noncommunicable diseases. This overview discusses the potential value of functional foods, their categories, global regulations associated with functional foods, and potential health benefits based on the current clinical evidence in humans. This discussion also provides a cursory introduction to emerging personalized and precision nutrition opportunities with their foundation in the nutrigenomics discipline.”

This SIB on Use of Biotechnology to Develop Probiotics as Potential Functional Food was prepared by Dr. Shriram Mahajan, Dr. Rashmita Dutta, Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Guwahati, India and corresponding author Dr. Sanjay K Banerjee, NIPER, Assam, India on behalf of, and approved by, the IUFoST Scientific Council.

This and the other titles in the series of IUFoST Scientific Information Bulletins are available online here.

5 am Tag – 5 par jour – 5 per giorno

The ‘5 a day’ campaign in Switzerland is publicised via trilingual website (D, F, I) with everyday tips, interesting facts and recipes as well as a quarterly newsletter. The campaign will focus on seasonality and regionality in future. A newsletter can be subscribed to via the website. ‘5 a day’ is a global campaign and was originally initiated in 1990 by the National Cancer Institute in the USA. In Switzerland, the ‘5amDay’ campaign was launched in 2001 by the Swiss Cancer League in co-operation with Health Promotion Switzerland, the Federal Office of Public Health FOPH and the Swiss Society for Nutrition SSN.

Links:

https://www.5amtag.ch
https://www.5parjour.ch
https://www.5algiorno.ch
FAO Logo

FAO E-CONSULTATION: Contribute to shaping the design of the Agrifood System Technologies & Innovations Outlook (ATIO) Knowledge Base

Discussing a prototype and a Draft Concept Note

Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition • FSN Forum would like to inform you about an extension of the e-consultation on “Contribute to shaping the design of the Agrifood System Technologies & Innovations Outlook Knowledge Base. Discussing a prototype and a Draft Concept Note” until 10 February.

This consultation is being organized by FAO’s Office of Innovation and aims to understand use cases and users’ preferences to guide the current design of the Agrifood systems Technologies and Innovations Outlook (ATIO) Knowledge Base (KB). The event seeks suggestions and input to a prototype and a Draft Concept Note of ATIO KB.

We also want to take the opportunity of the extension for inviting in farmers, farmers organizations representatives and grassroots communities representatives to contribute to this initiative.

The relevant inputs received in this consultation will become part of the ATIO KB design document, and some of the recommendations will have been implemented ideally by July 2025 and others planned for later. In addition, we will be glad to invite participants who are particularly interested and involved to take part in an expert consultation that should take place in February 2025. The first version of the platform will be published in July 2025.  

To take part in this consultation, please visit the webpage to read the full introduction with relevant links to the discussing document and guiding questions. For an assistance please contact fsn-moderator@fao.org .

The Agrifood System Technologies & Innovations Outlook (ATIO) Knowledge Base is conceived as a qualitative-information catalog of agrifood-systems technologies and innovations developed by actors across the full spectrum of stakeholders, including grassroots innovations. Its coverage is going to be global and span the whole innovation life cycle and all relevant use cases in the agrifood system. It will be neutral, partnership-driven, participatory, and open access. The content will be both federated from trustworthy relevant sources (and when necessary curated), and crowdsourced, with intensive but controlled use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enrich and categorize the records. Its objective is to assist policy makers and other agrifood systems stakeholders in making informed decisions to support the prioritization and upscaling of technologies and innovations to accelerate agrifood systems transformation.

At this early stage, when we are developing a design document and have an early prototype, it is the right time to consult potential users. We follow a participatory approach: we want our design to be co-developed, shared and widely endorsed.     

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Please feel free to share this invitation with your professional networks.

Thank you,

Your FSN Forum Team

TO PARTICIPATE – get registered or login to your account on the FSN Forum website www.fao.org/fsnforum; post your contribution on the dedicated webpage. For questions please contact fsn-moderator@fao.org.

Contribute to shaping the design of the Agrifood System Technologies & Innovations Outlook (ATIO) Knowledge Base

The ongoing e-consultation on “Contribute to shaping the design of the Agrifood System Technologies & Innovations Outlook Knowledge Base. Discussing a prototype and a Draft Concept Note” which is open until 31 January 2025. 

FAO’s Office of Innovation aims to understand use cases and users’ preferences to guide the current design of the Agrifood systems Technologies and Innovations Outlook (ATIO) Knowledge Base (KB). The event seeks suggestions and input to a prototype and a Draft Concept Note of ATIO KB.

TO PARTICIPATE – get registered or login to your account on the FSN Forum websitewww.fao.org/fsnforum; post your contribution on the dedicated webpage. For questions please contact fsn-moderator@fao.org

Day 1 of African Nutrition Society Regional Workshop on School Nutrition. Preconference workshop ahead of ANEC 2024 in Ghana.

ICONIC Task Force 2024 Round Up

ICONIC (International Collaboration on Nutrition in relation to Cancer) one of the IUNS task forces, wraps up 2024 with updates and news on key initiatives: progress in forming a community of practice for nutrition and childhood cancers, the success of CANA’s online grant writing course leading to an international research grant for Africa, and advancements in developing a Quality Assurance Framework for anthropometry in Africa and their involvement in organising a Regional Workshop on School Nutrition convened by the African Nutrition Society at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana in October 2024, as a pre-conference to the 9th Africa Nutrition Conference (ANEC).

They look forward to continuing these efforts in 2025.

To read more follow the link to their full newsletter here: A 2024 round-up and festive wishes from ICONIC!

World Food Programme 2025 Global Outlook: Needs and Solutions

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest humanitarian organisation, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

Last week, the WFP launched its 2025 Global Outlook report, offering an update on global food security in the countries where it operates and has data available. The report outlines WFP’s operational requirements to support target populations, categorised by country, region, and focus area, and provides an overview of its plans to tackle hunger in 2025.

The report highlights that acute hunger is once again on the rise, impacting 343 million people across 74 countries where the World Food Programme (WFP) operates and collects data. An estimated 1.9 million individuals are teetering on the edge of famine, predominantly in Gaza and Sudan—where famine was officially declared in one area in July—along with parts of South Sudan, Haiti, and Mali. For 2025, the WFP requires US$16.9 billion to provide critical assistance to 123 million of the most vulnerable people facing food insecurity worldwide.

Read the full report