Yesterday evening here in Banff, Alberta, Canada, the 7th annual conference of the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity started with a word of welcome by Wendy Rodgers, the chair of the local organising committee, myself as president of the society, and a keynote address by Dr. Peter Katzmarzyk, professor at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, USA.
After a full meeting of the executive committee of the society where we followed up on important issues such as renewing the society’s website, preparation for next year’s conference, the society’s financial status, et cetera, the conference actually started. Dr. Katmarzyk builds a case for research on the importance of the ‘physical activity transition’ as an important determinant of changes in mortality and morbidity trends. We are all familiar with the concept of the epidemiological transition, and most nutritionists have read Barry Popkin’s work on the nutrition transition, i.e. the changes in diet and nutrition that have driven associated changes in important burdens of disease, i.e. from infectious diseases and diseases related to under-nutrition, to diseases of affluence and over-nutrition, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and certain cancers. Dr. Katmarzyk argued that a physical activity transition has at least been of similar importance.
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