International Nutrition and Health Communication Programme was Held in Istanbul

Acting with the awareness of scientific information communication's importance, the Sabri Ülker Foundation has implemented the "Nutrition and Health Communication Programme" and held the third one on November 5-7 in Istanbul.

Bringing together expert scientists and communicators and completed with a media workshop, the programme was held this year with the theme "Eating Disorders: Health Effects and Effective Communication for Health Improvement".

The third of the International Nutrition and Health Communication Programme was held on November 5-7 in Istanbul. As Turkey's first internationally accredited "Nutrition and Health Communication Programme", the training gathered expert scientists and communicators to practice together, and this year's theme was "Eating Disorders: Health Effects and Effective Communication for Health Improvement". In addition to print media representatives, representatives from digital platforms also attended the programme.

Participants were awarded the certificate by the European Society of Nutrition and Food Science.

Within the framework of the programme, participants were informed about eating disorders, the basic principles of nutrition, the relationship of eating disorders with other health problems, the health effects of popular diets, and food safety. The programme was completed with a media workshop moderated by Prof. Dr. Ali Atıf Bir, the founder of the Institute of Communication Sciences, and enriched with news reviews and communication principles. After the training, the participants were awarded the certificate given by the Society of Nutrition and Food Science, Germany's leading nutrition and food science society.

• Although eating disorders are frequently seen in adolescents and young adults, this problem can also be encountered during childhood and after the age of 40.

• Anorexia nervosa patients with an impaired body perception perceive themselves as overweight despite being very thin and strive for more weight loss. This causes serious problems such as deterioration of blood values and water-salt balance of the body, low heart rate, and imbalance in sex hormones.

• Upon losing control and consuming excessive amounts of food, bulimia nervosa patients display excessive cleansing behaviors such as vomiting, using laxatives, exercising excessively, or not eating at all. Patients are usually of normal weight or slightly obese and perform these cleansing behaviors secretly due to disgust and embarrassment.

• In binge-eating syndrome, a person loses control and consumes more than a normal individual can eat. However, they do not exhibit the cleansing behaviors of bulimia nervosa patients. They tend to repeat the same behavior over and over again with feelings such as shame and guilt caused by overeating.

• In orthorexia nervosa, which is a pathological obsession with consuming biologically pure foods that do not contain herbicides, pesticides, or artificial substances, patients may feel serious guilt and even hate themselves when they are unable to achieve this since the issue of healthy diet had become the center of their lives.

Experts met with communicators

The curriculum of the International Nutrition and Health Communication Programme was conveyed to the participants by Prof. Dr. H. Tanju Besler, Vice-Chancellor of Eastern Mediterranean University; Dr. Begüm Kalyoncu, Professor at Atılım University Department of Nutrition and Dietetics; Prof. Dr. Temel Yılmaz, Chairman of the Turkish Diabetes Foundation; Dr. Laura Fernández, General Manager at the European Food Information Council (EUFIC); Prof. Dr. İrfan Erol, Professor at the Eastern Mediterranean University Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics; Prof. Dr. Beraat Özçelik, Dean of The Faculty of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering at the Istanbul Technical University; Prof. Dr. Julian Stowell, Research Assistant at Oxford Brookes University; and Prof. Dr. Diana Banati, Director of the International Life Sciences Institute.