Call for Abstracts

The Jordan Nutrition Innovation Lab invites the submission of abstracts for the Second Scientific Symposium, “Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Approaches to Support Women, Infants and Children” on February 18-20, 2025. The symposium program will include invited oral and poster sessions for which we are currently soliciting abstracts, as well as other sessions such as keynote speeches, research panels, and policy discussion sessions, organized in collaboration with partner and co-hosting organizations While this symposium is focused on research done in Jordan, we welcome abstracts from researchers in the MENA region.

Abstract Submission Guidelines

Submitted abstracts should meet the following requirements: 

• Authors: Full names and surnames of all authors should be included, as well as other data requested during the submission process. Affiliation (Institution only) must be included correctly. 
• Title: Concise, 30 words maximum in sentence case (not in capital or lower-case letters only). Please use only recognizable abbreviations.
• Contents: The following aspects must be included: 
  • Background and objectives
  • Methods
  • Results
  • Conclusions
  • Keywords: 5 keywords maximum
  • Conflict of Interest Disclosure (if any)
  • Further Collaborators (if any, including further co-authors if they exceed the permitted number)
• Length: Text length in the abstract body should not exceed 350 words.
• Abbreviations: Standardized abbreviations shall be used in the body of the abstract. When specific or unusual abbreviations are used, they shall appear in brackets after each complete term the first time they are used.

Please carefully review the abstract before submitting.

Symposium Themes

We are accepting abstracts to be considered for speaking and poster opportunities at the symposium in Amman, Jordan. These should be original research abstracts that utilize either primary data or secondary data including national surveys such as the Jordan Population and Family Health Survey. We welcome abstracts under the following research themes: 
 
1. Original Research I: Multi-sectoral interventions to support optimal MIYCN

• Multi-sectoral interventions to support health and nutrition, particularly of pregnant and lactating women, infants and young children
• Economic policies and disincentives in the marketing and purchase of unhealthy foods and beverages
• Effects of the food environment on the quality of diets of pregnant and lactating women, infants and young children, and their families
• Impacts of food standards/guidelines on dietary practices, behaviors and nutrition status of women, infants and young children
• Interventions to improve breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices

2. Original Research II: Nutrition knowledge, diet and physical activity

• Interventions focused on increasing nutrition knowledge, improving diet and physical activity of women of reproductive age or pregnant and lactating women to reduce overweight and obesity
• Interventions focused on improving diets and physical activity of young children
• Research examining the knowledge and awareness in adolescent women, young adult women and men of the importance of nutrition in pregnancy and lactation

 3. Original Research III: Bridging the nutrition evidence gap to support MIYCN

• Diet assessment methodology research with a focus on pregnancy, lactation, infancy and early childhood
• Physical activity assessment methodology research with a focus on pregnancy, lactation, and early childhood
• Nutrient requirements in specialized populations (PLW, infants and young children)

 4. Original Research IV: Long term biological consequences of poor diets prior to and during pregnancy

• Infant growth and cognitive development
• Maternal health, nutritional status and micronutrient deficiencies
• Risk of overweight and obesity in pregnant and lactating women and their long-term impacts on the risk of NCDs.

Standards of Evidence

Abstracts are invited to be submitted for review using the following types of research and study designs: 

1. Directly addressing the causal pathway includes efficacy and effectiveness research that can directly evaluate impact. Efficacy is the extent to which an intervention improves a condition when known to be delivered through a defined system. Effectiveness refers to the effects of intervention when delivered under usual program conditions. Both are best determined by the conduct of randomized field trials, which can vary in design and detail. 
2. Pseudo-experimental designs, including non-random allocation and before-after evaluations, offer a lesser degree of evidence on cause and effect, but are often an only option. 
3. Non-intervention evidence can offer strength in association that may be consistent with impact or raise hypotheses about the impact and modifiable risk factors. 
4. Epidemiological approaches can link individual exposures to status or outcomes. 
5. Marketing studies can track food product flow, value-added and present evidence of availability and access.
6. Ecological studies relate to community characteristics and associations that may reflect food security in an area. 
7. Surveys provide cross-sectional descriptions of existing situations, status profiles and prevalence in a population. 
8. Surveillance reveals trends in health and nutritional status, dietary availability, access and intake, over time, typically assessed as community panels or longitudinally in individuals.
   
   

How to Submit and Submission Deadline

Authors should submit abstracts through the electronic submission portal on the next page by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on December 15, 2024.

Queries can be directed to the following address: jordannutritioninnovationlab@tufts.edu

Selection Process

Abstracts will be reviewed by an expert panel and selected for either oral or poster presentations based on the scientific quality and relevance of the research to the themes above. Abstracts on research that is in progress or do not include data/findings will be considered only for poster presentations only.