EARLY NUTRITION AND ITS LATER CONSEQUENCES : NEW OPPORTUNITIES
This international workshop is organised by the University of Munich, Germany, in collaboration with the Danone Institutes and the EU Infant Nutrition Cluster, a collaboration of three shared cost research projects funded by the European Commission.
The workshop will be held at the Palais des Congrès at Paris, France, on July 2-3, 2004, prior to the 2nd World Congress of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and has been made possible through financial support of the European Commission.
The objectives are to assess the roles of early nutritional influences on the current and future well-being of the child and its mother, as well as to determine the potential of nutritional interventions during pregnancy and infancy to modify health and well-being. You are cordially invited to attend this meeting and to experience a stimulating exchange of information. Travel grants will be available for young investigators.
This will be the occasion to make a focus on the EU Childhood Obesity Programme.
Details available at www.metabolic-programming.org
 

ASO Spring Conference on Diabesity
Institute of Child Health, London, 30 March 2004 - www.aso.org.uk

13th European Congress on Obesity will be held on May 26-29, 2004 in Prague.
Details are available at www.eco2004.cz

Perinatal Nutrition And Its Later Consequences: New Opportunities
A scientific workshop (organised by the EU Infant Nutrition Cluster) to be held at the Palais des Congrès, Paris, 2-3 July, 2004 - www.metabolic-programming.org

2nd World Congress of Pediatric Gastroenlerology, Hepatology, and Nutrition hosted by Federation of the International Societies of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (FISPGHAN), and the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) be held on July 3-7, 2004, in Paris. Details available at www.wcpghn2004.com/gastroenterology.html

ASO Conference: Obesity
Taking theory into practice, Trinity College, Dublin, 7 July 2004 -
www.aso.org.uk

12th International Congress of Endocrinology
Lisbon, Portugal, 31 August - 4 September, 2004,
www.ice2004.com

14th Workshop of European Childhood Obesity Group
International Symposium, Childhood Obesity: from basic knowledge to effective prevention,
Zaragoza, Spain, 23-25 September, 2004

14th European Congress on Obesity
Athens, May 2005

 

December 2003 meeting
 

Project partners at the Milan progress meeting
Left to right:
Back row: Darius Gruzfeld (PL), Emmanuel Perrin (F), Andy Coward (GB), Jean-Michel Antoine (F), Francoise Martin (B), Sarah Queverue (B), Anne Sengier (B), Ricardo Closa-Monasterola (E), Anne de la Hunty (GB), Margaret Ashwell (GB).
Front Row: Peter Richmond (EU), Marie Francoise Rolland Cachera (F), Bert Koletzko (D), Doris Oberle (D), Sandrine Piredda (F), Carlo Agostoni (I), Silvia Scaglioni (I), Elvira Verduci (I)
Marcello Giovannini (I), Fiammetta Vecchi (I) and Armanda Frasinetti (I) were also present at the meeting.
 

This was held in Milan and was attended by representatives from all eight of the partners involved in the project.
Dr Peter Richmond, Personal Technical Assistant from the EU for the project, was also present and explained how his role is to help with communication with the Commission, especially with annual reports and cost statements.
Other items for discussion included progress in recruiting and retaining babies for the trial, problems with the food database, progress with the analysis of samples (see Focus on WP2 and WP5) and additions to the anthropometric measurements. There continues to be a problem with retention with dropouts mostly occurring at two to three months. Some of the reasons given include wanting to change from breastfeeding to formula feeding or finding the commitment too much.
 

Spring 2003 meeting
 
This was held in Warsaw in May 2003. Representatives from seven of the eight EU Childhood Obesity Programme partners attended.
 
Progress in recruiting babies for the intervention trial and the monitoring of standard procedures was discussed and ways of improving recruitment rate suggested ( see Focus on WP6).
 
Other items discussed extensively among the partners included the standardisation of urine collections, their storage and dispatch, standardisation of the renal ultrasound procedure, the standardised validation of the weighing machines and other anthropometric tools. A separate meeting for those personnel involved in diet assessment was held to discuss the standardisation of this methodology ( see Focus on WP3) .
 
Progress in disseminating information about the project was discussed. Apart from the brochures, newsletters and website, the group were reminded that a set of slides and a poster were available should for them. The group also discussed the importance pf preparing early publications from the project even before any results were available. Such publications could cover remote data entry as a new instrument of data collection, a comparison of data from breastfed vs. formula fed infants relating behaviour of the child and allergies experienced and the use of the diet assessment methods for such young babies.
 
At the end of the meeting, many of the partners enjoyed a trip outside Warsaw to the birthplace of the composer CHOPIN in Zelazowa Wola and listened (to the accompaniment of raindrops on umbrellas) to a wonderful performance of Chopin's music played by Regina Smendzianka ( who played inside the house in the dry!). Many thanks are due to the Polish partners for arranging such a successful meeting.
 
 
Autumn 2002 meeting
 

EU Childhood Obesity Programme partners to visit the Bledina factory during the project meeting held in Paris in October 2002 
Left to right back row: L. Clement, responsible for the milk group R&D, at Bledina; Darius Gruszfeld; Margaret Ashwell; Bert Koletzko; Ricardo Closa; Hans Demmelmair. 
Front row: Emmanuel Perrin; Jean Michel Antoine.
 

This was held in Danone headquarters in Paris on October 11th and was attended by all partners. Since the recruitment of babies into the trial started in September 2002, each centre gave a progress report. The randomisation list is on the website and the formula has been successfully shipped to all centres. All the questionnaires and Case Report Forms are now ready to be used in the trial. 
Certain issues about recruitment were clarified and presents for mothers of participating babies were suggested. Further discussion about study protocols took place to ensure standardisation of all procedures. 
Dissemination was reviewed (brochure and website) along with progress of the Infant Nutrition Cluster. There are plans for a large cluster meeting (Perinatal Nutrition And Its Later Consequences: New Opportunities) to be held in July 2004 after a successful application to EU for an Accompanying Measure. 
On the second day of the meeting, some of the partners visited Bledina sa to visit the factory where the formulas for the trial have been produced.
 
 
Spring 2002 meeting 
 
This was held in Schloß Höhenried, near Munich on April 11th 2002. Representatives from all eight EU Childhood Obesity Programme partners attended. The purpose of this Kick- off meeting was to ensure all partners understood the various study protocols. Logistics issues such as the shipment of test infant formula from France to other countries and the shipment of biochemical samples to Poland for analysis were discussed. A presentation on the Remote Data Entry (RDE) system to be used to record all data in a consistent manner across the five study centres was provided by the subcontractor with this responsibility. 
A training session for some partners and colleagues was held in September 2002 in Munich. A special presentation was made on the use of the doubly labelled water technique which will be used to measure energy expenditure of a sub set of the babies at age of 6 months with special emphasis on how to adapt the procedure locally. Anthropometric measurements were demonstrated including those for sitting height, skinfold caliper: triceps, subscapular, sliding caliper: wrist breadth, knemometry: heel-knee-length, circumferences: head, mid-arm, chest, waist, lengths: crown-sole, crown rump. Finally, the evaluation of nutrients of the study formula milk after unblinding was discussed.