World Population Day Celebration – 2024 | Guest Lecture
World Population Day is a global event which falls on 11th July every year. The United Nations declared World Population Day in 1989. The idea to identify a special/unique day to focus on population was created when the world’s population reached 5 billion on the 11th July 1987. World Population Day aims to increase people’s awareness on various population issues such as the importance of family planning, gender equality, poverty, maternal health and human rights. Hence, the Department of Demography, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo in collaboration with the Population Association of Sri Lanka (PASL) conducted a guest lecture on 11th July 2024, from 2.00 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. via Zoom platform to commemorate the World Population Day 2024, and mark its importance. The increased production of processed foods, rapid urbanization and changing lifestyles have led to a shift in dietary patterns. People now consume food high in energy, fat, sugar and salt/sodium, and many people do not eat enough fruits, vegetables and other dietary fiber such as whole grains. Therefore, to promote a healthy food environment, including food systems that promote a diversified, balanced and healthy diet a guest lecture was conducted by Dr. Akhila Nilaweera (President, Young Professionals Alliance for Health) on the topic ‘Defining a Healthy Diet: The Role of Contemporary Dietary Patterns in Health and Disease’. The guest lecture was a success with over 80 participants who actively engaged in the lecture.
