Balanced Nutrition Painting and Best Practices Competitions

The winners of the Balanced Nutrition Painting and Best Practices Competitions have been announced. The contests are held every year as part of the Balanced Nutrition Education project, carried out by the Sabri Ülker Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of National Education. The winners of the Balanced Nutrition Painting Competition received their awards at ceremonies held at the Regional Directorates of National Education. (A list of the winners can be found at: http://www.yemektedenge.org/OgrenciYarisma2016.) The winners of the Best PracticesCompetition, organized to encourage teachers to communicate project messages to students clearly and more effectively, will receive their awards at a ceremony held in partnership with the Ministry of National Education. (A list of the winners can be found at: http://www.yemektedenge.org/ogretmenyarisma2016.)

Turkish Dietetic Association

The Sabri Ülker Food Research Foundation celebrated Dietitians Day, held annually on June 6, and organized by the Turkish Dietetic Association in Ankara this year. Prof. Muhittin Tayfur, Ph.D., gave the opening speech of the program and explained his vision of the profession of dietetics. Other sessions focused on the relationship between breakfast cereals, microbiota, and health. Prof. Tanju Besler, Ph.D., a member of the Sabri Ülker Foundation Science Committee, shared the preliminary results of the Balanced Nutrition Project Food Frequency and Amount Questionnaire, and Begüm Mutuş, General Manager of the Sabri Ülker Foundation, gave a speech on the iGrow app and the foundation’s activities.

iGrow Mobile Application Launch,
Participating in the European Obesity Summit

The Sabri Ülker Foundation attended the European Obesity Summit, co-organized by the European Association for the Study of Obesity and the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders in Gothenburg, Sweden, on June 1–4, 2016. At the event, the Sabri Ülker Foundation launched the iGrow mobile app, and topics such as the prevention and treatment of obesity and the importance of physical activity in weight control were discussed. Sabri Ülker Foundation General Manager Begüm Mutuş made a speech at the launch, emphasizing that with iGrow, parents will have an opportunity to easily keep track of their child’s development as well as manage their nutrition and physical activity with reference to reliable scientific information. iGrow has been fully customized in alignment with Turkish dietary and lifestyle habits and can be downloaded from Google Play and the App Store.

Sabri Ülker Science Award

The winner of the 2016 Sabri Ülker Science Award is Asst. Prof. Kıvanç Birsoy, Ph.D. One of the shining stars of the Turkish scientific world, Dr. Birsoy received his award from Prof. Brian Kobilka, M.D., and given 100,000 Turkish lira. Dr. Birsoy and his team are mapping the interdependence of food and different types of cancer using DNA-Barcoding, a technology they developed, shedding light on new, sustainable, and economically viable treatment methods in the fight against cancer.

Metabolism and Life Symposium

On May 5–6, 2016, the Sabri Ülker Foundation and Harvard Sabri Ülker Center hosted the Metabolism and Life Symposium in Istanbul, bringing together internationally famous scientists. The 2012 Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry, Prof. Brian Kobilka, M.D., was the guest of honor at the gala night. At the symposium, globally renowned scientists presented their recent studies to Turkish scholars, students, and industry professionals. The findings of the research carried out in 2015 at the Sabri Ülker Center of the School of Public Health at Harvard University, were presented at the symposium, where it also communicated promising studies related to metabolism and nutrition to the public.

Balanced Nutrition Workshop

The Sabri Ülker Foundation hosted the workshop “The Balanced Nutrition Education Project and the Necessity of Nutrition Education” in Istanbul on April 6, as part of the Balanced Nutrition Education Project carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of National Education Directorate General of Basic Education. The workshop started with an opening speech by Gülderen Özdemir, Head of the Research, Development, and Projects Department at the Ministry of the National Education General Directorate of Primary Education. Other speakers at the workshop included Roy Ballam, Education and IT Director at the British Nutrition Foundation; Paula van Dommelen, Researcher at the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research; Prof. Murat Tuncer,M.D., Ph.D., and Prof. Tanju Besler, Ph.D., members of the Sabri Ülker Foundation Science Committee; and Begüm Mutuş, General Manager of the Sabri Ülker Foundation. During the workshop, the winners of the 2014-2015 Best Practice Competition received their awards. It concluded with a declaration signed by the Sabri Ülker Foundation, the British Nutrition Foundation, and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research. All stakeholders were invited to take an active role in supporting the statement, which emphasizes the importance of issues such as balanced nutrition education at an early age, encouraging physical activity, and role models for children.

The Sabri Ülker Foundation is on TV With Public Service Ads!

The Sabri Ülker Foundation is fulfilling its mission to convey scientific health information to the public in a clear and simple way, this time through public service advertisements. Republic of Turkey The foundation is using the video "Lüp Lüp" to appeal to children, created in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, and is informing adults through the movie Energy Balance, created by the European Food Information Council and adapted for Turkish audiences with the collaboration of the Ministry of Health. While the Energy Balance video gives adult viewers information on how to maintain energy balance, the public advertisement “Lüp Lüp” communicates scientific information about nutrition through a song, and using a language accessible to children.

37th Istanbul Marathon People's March

The Sabri Ülker Foundation participated in the 37th Istanbul Marathon People’s March on November 15 to support individuals acquiring healthy lifestyle habits as well as draw attention to the importance of physical activity. Announcements before and during the march emphasized the importance of remaining active.

12th European Nutrition Conference

The Sabri Ülker Foundation participated in the 12th European Nutrition Conference in Berlin between October 20-23 this year. At the conference, the Foundation brought to public attention the importance of obtaining information on nutrition and health from objective, scientific, and reliable sources in line with the opinions of internationally recognized scientists. The foundation organized a press meeting prior to the conference, attended by Dr. Laura Fernández Celemín, Ph.D., Director General of the European Food Information Council, and Begüm Mutuş, the General Manager the Sabri Ülker Foundation, to bring information pollution in both Turkey and Europe to the table. Prof. Pekka Puska, M.D., Ph.D., Director of The International Association of National Public Health Institutes, and Prof. Diana Banati, Ph.D., Director of The International Life Sciences Institute in Europe, shared their recommendations on methods of combating information pollution in nutrition and health.

The Balanced Nutrition Education Project’s Train the Trainer Program

The Train the Trainer program, which forms part of the Balanced Nutrition Education Project, began in Ankara on September 9, 2015, with the training of regional coordinators and branch managers involved in the project. The regional coordinators and branch managers of each province were given training on basic nutrition and the Balanced Nutrition educational materials, which are managed in accordance with the learning and capability levels of second, third, and fourth grade students. The course on the project materials was given by Assoc. Prof. Hünkar Korkmaz, Ph.D., from the Division of Curriculum and Instruction at the Department of Educational Sciences of the Faculty of Education at Hacettepe University, and training on basic nutritional education was given by Prof. Tanju Besler, Ph.D., member of the Sabri Ülker Foundation Science Committee. The regional coordinators and branch managers who received instruction will themselves train 8,600 teachers in 10 pilot provinces.

Balanced Nutrition Education in TFF-Ülker Soccer Villages

The TFF-Ülker Football Projects for Children was organized for the ninth time this year. Young athletes from across Turkey received nutrition training through the program, organized by the Sabri Ülker Foundation in collaboration with the Community Volunteers Foundation (TOG). Volunteer dietitians talked about the importance of nutrition for athletes and other crucial issues, including effective diets and the importance of staying hydrated. Through animations and other enjoyable activities, the training sent an important message to the 40 athletes from every province who participated: you can eat anything as long as you balance it out.

Hacettepe University Nutrition and Dietetic Days

The Sabri Ülker Food Research Foundation attended the biennial “Hacettepe Nutrition and Dietetic Days” of the Nutrition and Dietetics Department of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Hacettepe University. In one of its satellite symposiums, the Balanced Nutrition Food Consumption Frequency and Amount Research, led by Assoc. Prof. Esra Güneş, Ph.D., from Marmara University, Asst. Prof. Özge Küçükerdönmez, Ph.D., and Asst. Prof. Reci Meseri, Ph.D., from Ege University, and Prof. Habibe Şahin, Ph.D., from Erciyes University, was introduced. The session was chaired by Prof. Tanju Besler, Ph.D., a member of the Sabri Ülker Foundation Science Committee, and Prof. Muazzez Garipağaoğlu, Ph.D., Head of the Department of Nutrition And Dietetics at Medipol University, and saw Begüm Mutuş, General Manager of Sabri Ülker Foundation share the details of the Balanced Nutrition Education Project.

Balanced Nutrition Education Project – Learning With Cartoon Characters

The Sabri Ülker Foundation made the Balanced Nutrition Education Project even better by using Looney Tunes characters in partnership with Warner Bros. Ten animated videos involving Warner Bros. characters were created to stimulate interest in balanced nutrition and healthy lifestyles and allow children to learn the Balanced Nutrition messages in an entertaining and easy-to-remember way. The clips were presented to teachers, students, and the public.

Best Practices and the Balanced Nutrition Painting Contest

The results of the Balanced Nutrition Painting Contest, introduced to encourage the creativity of students and use painting to help them learn the messages of the project, were announced. The top three students from 10 participating provinces, 30 students in total, were awarded. The students were able to reflect what they had learned in their art, and the award ceremonies were held in the Regional Directorates of National Education in 10 provinces. The award ceremonies were attended by the Regional Directors of National Education, regional coordinators and branch managers, school principals, counselors, and the award winners and their families.

Sabri Ülker Science Award

The Second Sabri Ülker Science Award was presented at the Third Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyles Summit held by the Sabri Ülker Foundation on May 7, 2015. Assoc. Prof. Cesarettin Alaşalvar, M.D., and his team were the winners of this year’s Sabri Ülker Science Award, organized to encourage research in food, nutrition, and health both in Turkey and internationally. Dr. Alaşalvar received his award from Mehmet Müezzinoğlu, the Minister of Health.

Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyles Summit

The third edition of the Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyles Summit, an event that conveys the most up-to-date scientific information from the international arena in food, nutrition, and health to the public, was held in Istanbul on May 7, 2015. Speakers at the summit included Prof. Walter Willett, M.D., Ph.D., Head of the Nutrition Department at Harvard University, and writer of the famous bestseller, “Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating (2001); Prof. Gökhan Hotamışlıgil, M.D., Ph.D., Chair at the Department of Genetics and Complex Diseases, Harvard University and Director of the Sabri Ülker Center; Prof. Monique Raats, Ph.D., Director of the Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health Research Centre at the University of Surrey; Prof. Adam Drewnowski, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the School of Public Health at Washington University; and Prof. Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., Head of the Helen A. Guthrie Nutrition Science Department at Pennsylvania State University. At the event, distinguished scientists discussed the latest scientific developments in view of how and why daily eating habits changed in the past, and ended with recommendations to contribute to the adoption of healthy nutrition and healthy lifestyle habits in society.

International Congress Hidden Hunger

Following the first International Hidden Hunger Congress organized in 2013 to draw attention to hidden hunger worldwide, the second congress was held in Stuttgart, Germany, on March 3–6, 2015. The objective of the conference is to raise awareness through an international call to action. Topics that were discussed included the strategies developed in different countries, in addition to case studies and early precautions that should be implemented. The Sabri Ülker Foundation was the only institution from Turkey that was participated in the congress. At a press conference organized at the event by the association, the Prof. Tanju Besler, Ph.D., a member of the Sabri Ülker Foundation Science Committee, presented the 2010 Turkey Nutrition and Health Survey. Cases of inadequate nutrition in Turkey were highlighted with reference to data from research.