title: Into the future; avoiding the cost of folly--introducing a discussion.
abstract: 386 Billion Euros is Europe's annual cost of brain and mental health disorders. Malnourishment of women is recognised by African politicians as retarding brain development of their offspring to the extent of retarding economic development - an important lesson yet to be learnt by governments of the developed world. To bring this home to Western governments, we have to call in agronomists and economists. We are all robustly challenged with the question: 'What action will each of us be taking to reduce these dire effects on the human race? Contrasting with speakers' brilliance within their own specialty was some naivety speaking outside it: particularly in trivialising some well-established evidence on effects of prenatal and infant nutrition on brain development and particularly of omega-3s. Quoted in response were two powerful studies in 1973 involving animal trials and pathology, then corroborated by human studies, showing powerful effects of prenatal nutrition on brain development. These studies led to combined World Health and Food & Agriculture Organisations' (WHO-FAO) recommendations on reducing the omega6/3 ratio. Being against current industrial policy, however, these recommendations were never acted on. Decades have been wasted and the problem has multiplied. Would this evidence, fortified further by much since, yet bring governments now to act?
authors.affiliation: Nutrition Policy Unit, London Metropolitan University. jtw@blueyonder.co.uk
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Winkler
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008603:Mental Health; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D009752:Nutritional Status