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Conference - Working in Partnerships

PROFESSOR TONY WORSLEY
Research Advisor Vic Health

Tony Worsley is Senior Research Advisor at the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation. He is also Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Health, Medicine, Nursing and Behavioural Sciences at Deakin University. Until recently, he was Professor of Public Health Nutrition and Head of the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University. He is a member of the Australian Academy of Sciences’ Nutrition Committee; and has been Co-Executive Editor of Appetite, and the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.
He has held senior academic appointments in several universities and CSIRO. These include the University of Adelaide where he was Professor of Public Health, the CSIRO Division of Human Nutrition (Head of the Food Policy Research Unit), the Australian National University’s National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, and Otago University (New Zealand) where he was Professor in Social Nutrition.
He has wide experience in the evaluation of public health nutrition programs, and in the promotion and maintenance of behaviour change. His current research involves several overlapping areas including: behavioural and nutritional epidemiology, studies of products at the food-drug interface, food and nutrition policy research; health and nutrition promotion. He has published widely in scientific and professional journals. He has authored several books including Public Health Nutrition (with M Lawrence), Food People and Health, The Food System, The Use and Abuse of Vitamins and the Body Owner’s Manual. Recent research projects include: The development of dietary approaches to stop hypertension; examination of the adoption of plant based foods by consumers and industry; consumers’ attitudes towards children’s foods at school, and, baby boomers’ future food and health needs.

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION – Saturday 12 July 2008 New Paradigms, New Partners – New Nutrition and Physical Education
Several major events are taking place in the early 21st century: climate change and associated environmental crises have become widely acknowledged, metabolic diseases are increasing in prevalence (especially type 2 diabetes and obesity), people are living longer, and, government and business are increasingly accountable for their stewardship, largely due to the communications revolution.
These changes challenge the individualist paradigm that has been especially dominant in Anglo countries for the past 30 years: none of them can be coped with simply through the actions of individuals. Our health and survival depend to a large degree on social and natural systems such as climate, agricultural, transport, economic systems.
These systems influence the short and long term security of our food supplies, and the population’s nutrition, physical activity and health status. It is now becoming clear (again) that the public’ health is best fostered through working relationships between health and other sectors. For example, the promotion of plant based diets which would reduce metabolic disease prevalence and greenhouse gas emissions will require partnerships between agriculturalists, transport and retail companies, government policy makers and health professionals, among many others.
Educators, at all levels, have a fundamental role in promoting a macroscopic education paradigm which will enable citizens to understand and appreciate complex natural and social systems. They have a sound basis for future developments but they will need to demonstrate the effectiveness of their programs.