ST. LOUIS, Oct. 17, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The
American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) today announced that
Pekka Puska, MD, PhD, MPolSc, a
Finnish professor, physician and former member of the Finnish
Parliament, will be awarded the medical professional society's
first-ever Dr. Ancel Keys Award. The
award will be were presented during ACLM's sold-out 2019 Lifestyle
Medicine Conference at its annual Awards Banquet on Tuesday, Oct. 29 in Orlando, FL.
Puska has had a significant influence on public health research
and practice in Finland and
globally for several decades. He was, for 25 years, the Director
and Principal Investigator of the North Karelia Project for
prevention of cardiovascular diseases in North Karelia and later on
in all Finland. Within 35 years,
an over 85 percent decline in annual heart disease mortality among
the working age population and a dramatic general improvement in
public health took place. Turning an area in Finland with the highest heart disease death
rate into a country with one of the lowest, the project is widely
seen as a model for successful population-based prevention of
cardiovascular and other noncommunicable diseases (NCD).
The Dr. Ancel Keys Award was
established to recognize a person who has made significant
contributions to thought, evidence, practice and policy through
research and the application of scientific principles, with
particular emphasis on public health issues and population science.
The recipient must be highly respected through research and
publications as a leader in epidemiology, biostatistics and
nutrition, with concern for public as well as individual health.
The recipient must have shown courage in taking an evidence-based
public policy stance. It will be awarded by ACLM every three
years.
The Keys Award is named in honor of Ancel Keys, who started his career in physiology
and moved into public health with experiments to meet wartime needs
for survival rations (the "K-ration") and to re-nourish the
starving survivors of war in Europe. After the war, Keys became interested
in tracing the causes and prevention of cardiovascular diseases,
initiating studies that included the landmark epidemiologic "Seven
Countries Study" showing the correlation of dietary saturated fat
to heart disease. He named and evaluated body mass index (BMI) and
with his wife also introduced the Mediterranean Diet.
Puska formerly held the position of Director General of
Finland's National Institute for
Health and Welfare from 2009 to 2013, and currently is a professor
at University of Helsinki and
University of Eastern Finland. He
has twice served as a member of the Finnish Parliament, working on
both its Health and Social Affairs and Education committees.
From 2001 to 2003 Puska served as the Director for
Noncommunicable Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the
World Health Organization Headquarters in Geneva. At WHO, Puska directed the work on
integrated prevention of NCD targeting the main risk factors
(tobacco, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity) through health
promotion, national programs, policy measures and regional
networks. His department's work culminated in adoption of the
Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health by the World
Health Assembly in 2004.
Internationally, Puska is Past President of the International
Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI), and he
has also served as the chair of the Governing Council of the WHO
International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC) and as the
President of the World Heart Federation. Domestically, Puska has
served among other things as the Chancellor of the University of
Turku, Chair of the Finnish
University Council, Member of Board of Academy of Finland, Chair of
the National Nutrition Committee and President of National Union of
Finnish Students.
Among his several honors are Honorary Doctorate at St. Andrew's
University (Scotland) and
Lisbon University, as well as
Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. He has
received, among other recognition, WHO's annual Health Education
Award in 1990, WHO Tobacco Free World Award in 1999, the Nordic
Award for Public Health in 2005, and the Rank Prize in 2008.
Puska continues his affiliation with THL, the country's
comprehensive national institute for public health and welfare
under Finland's Ministry of
Health.
"Pekka Puska is deserving of this
award for the creative and courageous efforts he has made
throughout his career, not just for the health of the people of
Finland, but people around the
world," said ACLM President Dexter
Shurney, MD, MBA, MPH, FACLM, DipABLM. "He is a giant in
cardiovascular research and policy. Like Ancel Keys, Professor Puska has impacted and
saved the lives of so many as a leader and contributor to public
health and policy. We are honored to have Pekka Puska be our first Dr. Ancel Keys Award recipient."
ABOUT THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF LIFESTYLE MEDICINE: ACLM is the
medical professional association for those dedicated to the
advancement and clinical practice of Lifestyle Medicine as the
foundation of a transformed and sustainable health care system.
Lifestyle Medicine involves the use of the use of a whole food,
plant-predominant dietary lifestyle, regular physical activity,
restorative sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances
and positive social connection as a primary therapeutic modality to
prevent, treat, and, oftentimes, reverse the lifestyle-related,
chronic disease that's all too prevalent. ACLM addresses the need
for quality education and certification, supporting its members in
their individual practices and in their collective desire to
domestically and globally promote Lifestyle Medicine as the first
treatment option, as opposed to a first option of treating symptoms
and consequences with expensive, ever-increasing quantities of
pills and procedures. Join today at
http://www.LifestyleMedicine.org.
SOURCE American College of Lifestyle Medicine