Diet and Development for Children in the 21st Century:
What's Good: What's Bad?
And What is Just Plain Confusing?

Sponsored by the Boston Institute for the Development of Infants and Parents and the Freedman Center for Child & Family Development

Christina Economos, PhD, Cara Ebbeling, PhD, Wayne G. Shreffler, MD, PhD, and Charlotte Vallaeys, MS. MTS, presenters

What are we feeding our children and how is it effecting their development? This conference will provide updates on environmental toxins and food additives that are reported to influence child health and development. Guidance will be given for guiding healthy eating and addressing obesity concerns through the sometimes confusing theories and information on childhood nutrition. Common sense principles will be provided for pediatric health care providers and parents for deciding what is truth and what is myth. How can we give families nutritional guidance in these modern times?

• Gain understanding of mechanism of allergic responses to food antigens
• Provide example of current treatment and control to food allergies
• Demonstrate understanding of food allergies and food toxins in relation to child development
• Increase knowledge of factors influencing childhood obesity

Program Code: DDC6
6 CE Credits
Location: at MSPP, West Roxbury/Boston

Christina Economos, PhD, is the New Balance Chair in childhood nutrition and assistant professor at the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. Dr. Economos received a Bachelor of Science from Boston University, a Master of Science in Applied Physiology and Nutrition from Columbia University and a doctorate in Nutrition Science from Tufts University. She has acted as the primary catalyst and researcher for many of the activities at Tufts University targeted toward childhood nutrition and physical activity with the goal of improving the health of America’s children. Dr. Economos's research efforts have addressed the interaction between exercise, diet, body composition, bone health, and the built environment aimed at preventing osteoporosis and obesity, starting in early childhood. She is the principal investigator of multiple large-scale studies examining childhood nutrition and physical activity with the goal of inspiring behavior, policy, and environmental change to improve the health of America's children. She has worked effectively with diverse communities and has crafted, implemented, and evaluated physical activity and nutrition education curriculum. Dr. Economos's work engages theory and scientific evidence as vehicles to spark systemic, community-based change.

Cara Ebbeling, PhD, holds a PhD in nutrition and an MS in exercise science. Moreover, she has experience in behavioral counseling for promoting dietary change and in using self-report methodology to assess diet and physical activity. She has successfully designed, implemented, and evaluated lifestyle interventions in free-living children, adolescents, and adults. Her current research is aimed at evaluating the efficacy of weight loss diets that vary in quantity and quality of carbohydrate and fat, with particular focus on dietary glycemic index. In addition, she conducts studies to understand the role of fast food and sugar-sweetened beverages in promoting weight gain.

Wayne G. Shreffler, MD, PhD, is Director of the Food Allergy Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, and adjunct Associate Professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He directs the Shreffler Laboratory at MGH. This laboratory is interested in the mechanisms regulating both primary sensitization and the subsequent balance between immune progression or regulation that determines either clinical sensitivity or tolerance to mucosal allergens.

Charlotte L. Vallaeys, MS, MTS, is Director of Farm and Food Policy at The Cornucopia Institute which seeks economic justice for family-scale farmers. Through research, advocacy, and economic development, Cornucopia’s goal is to empower farmers - partnered with consumers - in support of ecologically produced local, organic and authentic food. She is the author of a number of articles including: Cereal Crimes: How “Natural” Claims Deceive Consumers and Undermine the Organic Label – A Look Down the Cereal and Granola Aisle and Toxic Chemicals: Banned in Organics but Common in “Natural” Food Production – Chemical Solvents in Soy Protein.