2001–2005 · lebanondiet.org archive
The Lebanese Dietetic Association (LDA), 1970–2005
This is what the first version of lebanondiet.org said about the association that owned it. The text is condensed from the pages “What is LDA?”, “Services”, “Links” and “Join” as they were saved between 2001 and 2005.
What the association was
Founded in 1970, the Lebanese Dietetic Association (LDA) revived its activities in 1993. It described itself as a non-governmental, non-profit organisation and “a valued and credible reference for scientifically based nutrition and food science information in Lebanon”. The association was an adhering body of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) — the reason the mfa.gov.lb list of development organisations and several international directories still point to this domain.
In the early 2000s the LDA grouped around 200 active members: dietitians in hospitals and clinics, university lecturers and researchers, and nutrition professionals working in industry. Its base was the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the American University of Beirut, whose dean, Dr. Nahla Hwalla, presided over the association through all three of its names.
Services listed on the original site
- Professional conferences on recent advances in nutrition research for members, and public conferences on general nutrition questions.
- Lectures and seminars with exhibits, organised periodically around nutrition myths and current community concerns.
- Consultancy on nutrition for governmental and other institutions.
- Awareness work on nutrition and well-being through seminars and campaigns for children, women and the elderly.
Executive committee 2001–2005
The site listed the committee by role. Names are given here as they appeared; no contact details are reproduced.
| President | Dr. Nahla Hwalla |
|---|---|
| Vice President | Huda Ardakani Maamari |
| Secretary | Rola Zahr Naanai |
| Treasurer | Dima El Timani |
| Accountant | Dr. Omar Obeid |
| Public Relations | Nadine Mahboub |
Who could join, and what members received
By 2005 the pages already carried the association’s later name, LANFS. The membership terms were three: Lebanese nationality; at least a university degree in nutrition (BSc, MSc or PhD) from an accredited university; and a licence from the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health or an equivalent recognised by the association. Applications went by post to the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at AUB.
- Monthly meetings with lectures by scientists and nutrition professionals from Lebanon and abroad.
- A membership certificate on request, confirming active membership for the current year.
- Invitations to take part in community nutrition campaigns.
- Announcements of international events and meetings, and job offers circulated by e-mail.
The “Links” page: how the LDA curated the web in 2001
The links page was a hand-picked list of about sixty English-language sources, most of them American and international: the American Dietetic Association, the American Heart Association and Diabetes Association, the FDA and USDA, the Mayo Clinic nutrition centre, Health Canada, the WHO, the FAO and the World Food Programme, the Tufts University Nutrition Navigator, the International Food Information Council, and consumer guides on vitamins, minerals, calories and vegetarian eating. Two illustrated features — the food pyramid and “vitamins and minerals in a fruit salad” — sat in the sidebar of every page.
The list is a small time capsule: it shows what a Lebanese dietitian in 2001 considered the reliable public sources on nutrition, before Arabic-language material was widely available online.
What came next
Around 2005 the association renamed itself the Lebanese Association for Nutrition and Food Sciences (LANFS), grew to about 400 members and, in 2007, saw its home department at AUB designated a WHO Collaborating Centre. That period is restored on the LANFS page; the 2015–2022 academy, LAND, has its own page and committee profiles.
Original addresses on lebanondiet.org
The content above was published on the old site at the following addresses, which now redirect here — /aboutus.asp, /services.asp, /links.asp, /join.asp — Restored from the Internet Archive on 20 September 2026; text condensed and edited for readability, facts and dates kept as published.
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