Weight gain researcher gets nutritional research award

13/04/05 Dr Marie-Aline Charles, Director of Research at the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM) has been awarded the most recent Ajinomoto Prize for nutritional research.

The prize has been awarded for her research into the factors that influence weight gain and obesity in French children. Her objective is to provide information to improve understanding in this important area of health concern.

At a time of increasing concern about obesity, and when health professionals and the media are conveying strong messages regarding the importance of nutrition, consumers are increasingly aware of the food they eat and the role of low sugar alternatives in their diet.

Dr Charles is currently working on the EDEN project, a large epidemiological study, initiated by the Federal Institute of Epidemiological Research and Social Sciences (IFR 69) and promoted by INSERM.

The objective of this study is to develop a better understanding of the pre- and post-natal factors that affect the health and development of children. It will involve studying pregnant women and their children up to the age of five, in order to understand how the mother's metabolism, nutritional state and diet (before and during pregnancy), influence the development of the foetus and the child. It will focus on children that are overweight in the first few years of their lives and take into consideration the child's own diet. It is an ambitious project that will demand a lot of effort from a variety of specialists for several years. However, the results that it will bring to the field of child development and the insight into the factors that lead to children becoming overweight, will be important.

The Ajinomoto prize, which is now in its 14th year was presented to Dr Marie-Aline Charles by Bernard Guy-Grand, President of the Ajinomoto Association for Research in Nutrition and Hans Heezen, President of Ajinomoto Switzerland AG, in Paris.

Mr Hans Heezen, pointed out that as the producer of Ajinomoto Aspartame, the company encourages scientists to undertake research in order to highlight the importance of diet and the implications it can have on health. This is reinforced by the organisation's investment in nutritional research and through the award of the annual research prize.

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