Child poverty and obesity in the spotlight at York conference
Posted on 6 February 2007
The conference, organised by the University’s Mother and Infant Research Unit (MIRU), will also examine new ways to improve nutrition for mothers and their children, and how best to use the results of research to influence policy and practice.
This exciting conference will give a wide range of people the opportunity to hear about new developments in maternal and child nutrition and to discuss ways of addressing inequalities in health
Professor Mary Renfrew
The event on 13 February 2007, at the National Centre for Early Music in York, is supported by the Royal College of Midwives. It will involve practitioners from primary care, public health, and hospitals, including midwives, health visitors, dieticians, pharmacists, and GPs, as well as policy-makers, service planners, academics, mothers and campaign groups.
The conference will also feature workshops on a range of topics including working with low-income families, preventing obesity, promoting breastfeeding, and nutrition for mothers and for 2 to 5 year olds as well as the UNICEF Baby Friendly initiative.
Speakers will include Professor Cecily Kelleher, Head of School of Public Health and Population Science, at University College, Dublin; Professor Carolyn Summerbell, Professor of Human Nutrition at the University of Teesside; Hilary Wareing, Director of Public Management Associates; Dr Ray Earwicker, from the Health Inequalities Unit of the Department of Health; and Dr Sue Proctor, Director of Nursing and Patient Care at Yorkshire and the Humber Strategic Health Authority.
The Director of MIRU Professor Mary Renfrew said: "This exciting conference will give a wide range of people the opportunity to hear about new developments in maternal and child nutrition and to discuss ways of addressing inequalities in health.
"It will be an interactive day which we are convinced will make a real difference in the way society tackles nutrition for mothers and children. We hope it will provide a thought-provoking forum to discuss ways of working together more effectively."
Notes to editors:
- The Mother and Infant Research Unit (MIRU) at the University of York was established in 1996, with the aim of contributing to improvement in the health and wellbeing of childbearing women, their babies and families, through research, education, and evidence-based policy and practice. Themes include inequalities in health, assessing interventions, views and experiences of childbearing women, the organisation of maternity services. One of its main programmes of work is maternal and infant nutrition; as part of this work, it coordinates the national Public Health Collaborating Centre for Maternal and Child Nutrition.
- The Collaborating Centre was established in 2004, with an overall aim of improving maternal and child nutrition by addressing inequalities in health. Its work has included evidence reviews, guidance, and practice development. It is coordinated by the Mother and Infant Research Unit in the University of York. It has been supported by a national consortium of academic, service user, professional and NHS partners including:
- the Universities of Coventry, Leeds, City, Central Lancashire, Warwick, Southampton, Oxford, Cambridge, Bournemouth and London
- service user/consumer groups including the National Childbirth Trust, La Leche League, the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers, and the Breastfeeding Network
- professional organisations including the RCM, RCN, CPHVA, NHS Direct, RCPCH, BDA, UKPHA, UK Federation of Primary Care Networks
- NGOs including the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative