AI, new methods for dietary assessments will take ‘center stage’ at Nutrition 2024

Key takeaways:

• Hot topics at the meeting include GLP-1 receptor agonists, healthy aging and nutrition in sports.
• There will also be a preconference session for physicians who want to apply evidence-based nutrition in practice.

This year’s American Society for Nutrition Scientific Sessions and Annual Meeting will take place in person in Chicago from June 29 to July 2.

Speaking to Healio, Gwen Twillman, chief knowledge officer at the American Society for Nutrition, said that more than 2,800 health professionals, scientific researchers and policymakers from around the world will attend the conference to “advance nutrition science and its practical applications.”

According to Twillman, hot topics at this year’s meeting include healthy aging, diet and cancer and nutrition in sports. More than 1,600 new research studies are set to be presented, she said.

Technological advances in nutrition, which “include the use of AI and machine learning and new methods for dietary assessment,” will “take center stage,” she said.

GLP-1 receptor agonists will also be featured in several talks. Arne Astrup, MD, DMSc, a professor at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark who will be presented with the 2024 George Bray Outstanding Scientific Achievements in Obesity Research Award at the meeting, “will delve into the discovery of GLP-1 as a satiety hormone and its implications on the management of obesity and nutrition,” Twillman said.

Twillman also highlighted the session “Beyond the Binary: Exploring the State of Transgender and Gender-diverse Nutrition Research,” which will “provide insights into nutrition-related priorities and concerns from the transgender youth and young adult perspective.”

“The session will review nutrition-related clinical considerations for transgender youth and young adults seeking gender-affirming medical interventions and summarize eating behaviors as a moderator of the relationship between gender and mental health in youth,” she said.

There will be a few new components of the conference, including a preconference continuing education program, “Nutrition in Clinical Practice: A Comprehensive Course for Physicians,” which will be held on June 28. The program, which will explain topics like debunking nutrition myths, nutritional synergy and nutritional interventions for [irritable bowel syndrome], is aimed toward clinicians “interested in applying evidence-based nutrition to their practice,” Twillman explained.

“The program is designed to be clinically oriented for the physician learner and appropriate for medical school faculty,” she said.

Live onsite coverage for this year’s meeting, in addition to stories and videos from previous Nutrition meetings, can be found here.

Reference:

• Meeting preview: Hot topics at NUTRITION 2024. https://nutrition.org/meeting-preview-hot-topics-at-nutrition-2024/. Published May 21, 2024. Accessed June 26, 2024.