Welcoming Address

Abstract

Ladies and gentlemen, let me welcome you to this symposium of The Kittay Scientific Foundation. I am certainly impressed by this gathering of the most distinguished group of scientists in the field of nutrition and biochemical functions of the brain. There is no need to impress upon you the magnitude of nutritional problems which face mankind at this time. Magazines and newspaper presentations are constantly making us aware of the tragic results of the tight race between population growth and food productivity. You know the tragic results. What happens with human beings due to malnutrition is, in many cases, disastrous. It is therefore an urgent and a noble task for all of you to bring light to this matter, to separate facts from passionate attitudes. As long as our understanding of this problem is confused and fragmentary, it will be very hard to convince any government to adopt a sound policy for eliminating malnutrition which is supported by contradictory or unverified documentation. No government can decide social policies related to nutritional conditions of the population without solid knowledge provided, hopefully, by you.