From July 29 – 31, nutrition educators will meet at the Mariott Marquis in Atlanta, GA, for the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior annual conference. Building on the successful virtual conferences held in 2020 and 2021, the 2022 conference will welcome back in-person attendees and also offer a virtual attendance option. A unique conference feature will be a buddy system linking in-person and virtual attendees for collaboration through the two-day event.

With a focus on Re-engineering Nutrition Education and Behavior… designing tech competence in your digital world, conference attendees will discuss tech equity, technology and the food system, technology in the scholarship of teaching and learning, and integrating technology across the research spectrum.

“The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic impacted all activities on planet earth, including design, delivery, and evaluation of nutrition education and our daily nutrition behaviors.  Educators, researchers, and policymakers rose to the challenge to continue service, study phenomena, and solve problems in the face of significant barriers,” said SNEB President-elect and conference chair Barbara Lohse, Ph.D., RD. “The 2022 SNEB Annual Conference will acknowledge and inventory these accomplishments to honor, inform, inspire and design future health and nutrition education and behavior endeavors and venues. Modifications implemented to sustain our focus and productivity highlighted known concerns with technophobia by consumers and professionals and the need for retraining, but also revealed novel problems and prompted fast-track solutions, likely to persist post-pandemic.”

Each day of the conference will include a keynote presentation. On Saturday July 30, Dr. Martin Kohlmeier will present the latest research on bioinformatics and precision nutrition during the George M. Briggs Nutrition Science Symposium. On Sunday, July 31 the Bee Marks Communications Symposium will feature the work of the Pride and Prejudice Consortium, a unique-multi-disciplinary group of researchers using technology-based innovations to improve accuracy of dietary behavior assessments and coaching strategies.

In addition to education tracks, a technology playground, exhibitors, networking opportunities, and over 175 oral and poster research presentations have been accepted. The July 2022 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior will publish the abstracts of this research.

Also, in-person attendees can experience Atlanta through a history and food tour, a visit to the Atlanta Community Food Bank, or a civil rights walking tour. Several post-conference workshops are planned for August 1, including leadership training for Land Grant University SNAP-Ed and EFNEP leaders and seminars on food insecurity, assessing dietary intake, and emerging statistical methods and designs in nutrition research.

The 24 hours of conference programming has been approved for continuing education units by the Commission on Dietetic Registration, American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences, and National Commission for Health Education Credentialing. Registration for members of the Society and non-members is now open with an advance registration discount valid through July 12. Discounted registration is available to students, residents of low and middle-income countries, and indigenous peoples. To register and for more information, please visit https://www.sneb.org/2022.