2007 Healthy Development Adelaide Award

Associate Professor Manny Noakes, Senior Research Dietician, CSIRO Human Nutrition, was presented with the Healthy Development Adelaide Award at the 3rd annual HDA Oration ‘The science behind weight management’.

Associate Professor Noakes' involvement in the nutrition and diet field began on her graduating from Flinders University of South Australia. After graduation Associate Professor Noakes worked as a clinical dietician at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and at the Flinders Medical Centre in South Australia. A/Professor Noakes joined CSIRO in 1991 and is leader of the research team that developed the highly successful CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet, with 2 books published by Penguin. Associate Professor Noakes has published over 100 scientific papers and is currently the Stream Leader for Diet and Lifestyle Programs at CSIRO Human Nutrition.

The prevalence of obesity in Australia has more than doubled in the past 20 years. Its relationship to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, some cancers and arthritis, contributes to major morbidity, mortality and socio-economic costs. Diet and lifestyle changes can be a very inexpensive approach to preventing some of these associated risks and social burden. CSIRO has conducted several of the largest studies showing that higher protein dietary patterns for weight management have metabolic advantages over high carbohydrate patterns in overweight people with insulin resistance.