Accra – 23 July 2014. A new, free to use, global nutrition training platform – the eNutrition Academy – was launched at the sixth African Nutrition Epidemiology Conference (ANEC VI) in Ghana today.
The eNutrition Academy (eNA) is a global charitable organisation. It has been created to help teach nutrition science to a new generation of nutritionists around the world free of charge; especially in parts of the world where people are most at risk of malnutrition such as Africa, South Asia and South America. The eNA is backed by five founding partners: the African Nutrition Society (ANS), American Society for Nutrition (ASN), Federation of African Nutrition Societies, International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) and the Nutrition Society of the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Chair of the eNA Board of Trustees, Professor Catherine Geissler said:
“This is an exciting initiative that I am delighted to support. The eNutrition Academy will initially offer its online courses in Africa where there is an urgent need for capacity building. We aim to expand our operations to Asia and South America in the next few years.
“Understanding and applying nutrition science can have a significant, positive impact on public health and the huge global problems we face around malnutrition and obesity. Qualified nutritionists and dietitians have a major role to play in policy making, healthcare, education, agriculture and food manufacturing.
“Our aim is to help a new generation of highly trained nutritionists and food scientists to work with their governments, health care professionals and industry to give millions of people better quality food and better lives.”
Working in partnership with local universities and colleges, the eNA will support undergraduates, postgraduates and those already in work seeking continuous professional development. The eNA is looking for more partners worldwide, especially academics and lecturers willing to share their time and materials to support its online library of courses.
The first eNA course – Assessment of Dietary Intake for Individuals – is being launched as a pilot for testing. Other courses will follow in due course. All eNA courses will be delivered via the Cambridge University Press online platform which allows interactive learning and collaboration.