A UNIVERSITY of Reading team has picked up an education award for its work in helping tackle Malaysia’s obesity crisis.
The UK-Malaysia Education Institutional Partnership Award was awarded to the group for its N2RTU project, a first-of-its-kind initiative focused on sharing knowledge in emerging areas of nutritional research – for example, how genetics can influence obesity.
Reading food science experts hosted workshops, webinars and outreach activities attended by nutritionists, clinicians, dieticians, students and academics as part of the project.
Sessions were designed to help professionals address problems such as obesity and malnutrition among the most vulnerable in Malaysia.
Reading’s Prof Vimal Karani and Dr Anto Dhanapal from the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Malaysia led the research.
Prof Karani, professor in nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics, said: “We knew we faced a big challenge when we started this project as obesity affects a large number of vulnerable people in Malaysia, but especially mothers, children, teenagers and young adults.
“Our training programmes push health professionals in Malaysia to think about obesity in a different way. By considering how genetics can influence weight, more people will be able to receive personalised support in their mission to get fit.
“We have received really positive results so far and this award shows we are making progress in helping to tackle obesity in Malaysia.”
The Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health (IFNH) at the University of Reading and the UTAR received the award ahead of Cambridge and Edinburgh Universities in Kuala Lumpur on June 8.
The team’s success marks the university’s latest contribution to research in Malaysia.
In 2015, the University of Reading Malaysia opened in EduCity Iskandar.
