Issue 140 Face to face

F2F

FACE TO FACE Ursula meets: Ursula Arens Writer; Nutrition & Dietetics Ursula has a degree in dietetics, and currently works as a freelance nutrition writer. She has been a columnist on nutrition for more than 30 years.

44

Ursula meets amazing people who influence nutrition policies and practices in the UK. MARGARET ASHWELL President: Association for Nutrition Nutrition Consultant Developer of the Ashwell® Shape Chart and Ashwell® String Test

Actor WC Fields advised fellow thespians never to work with animals or children. Writers should consider the advice never to interview friends or family. Because Margaret is a very dear friend, there is no chance of an unbiased feature and no chance of a cool description of professional achievement.

I was lucky to report to her for five years when she was Science Director at the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF): she inspires great loyalty in all those who have worked with her, which is probably because she is such a fierce champion of nutrition underlings.

Margaret obtained a First Class Honours degree in Physiology and Biochemistry at the University of Southampton. There was a tiny sixweek nutrition component in the course, which Margaret bluntly declares that she skived entirely. “The irony,” she admits.

She was funded to do her PhD at the National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR). She then had to speak very slowly to me, explaining, “It was on mitochondrial biogenesis. Much to everyone’s disappointment, I found that mitochondrial DNA coded for less than 5% of its own proteins. This figure still holds but, goodness, how important those few proteins are for optimal health.”

Wanting to write for a wider audience, Margaret took a job at the Consumers’ Association to write their first Which? slimming guide. So

www.NHDmag.com December 2018/January 2019 - Issue 140

this was how Margaret first got into nutrition. She had an advisory panel of nutrition experts to consult and scatters the names of many greats: PassmoreGarrow-Durnin-McCance-Howard.

Margaret then joined the Medical Research Council (MRC) in Harrow to do research on adipose tissue. None other than Nobel Prize winner Sir Peter Medawar (her previous Director at NIMR) worked there, and he enjoyed chatting to the bright young colleague (mainly about cricket); together they also carried out studies on adipose tissue transplantation.

During this time, Margaret became Hon Secretary of the Association for the Study of Obesity (ASO) and also set up the Adipose Tissue Discussion Group (ATDG). Both groups are still active and Margaret laughs that everyone came to ATDG meetings with small ice buckets of tissue samples to share for cross analysis verification. After attending an obesity meeting in New York, and weary of the Ameri-centric discussions, Margaret and Per Bjorntrop from Sweden co-wrote the Constitution of the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO - which has now hosted 25 conferences).

In 1980, Margaret obtained a highly prized ‘permanent’ post with the MRC Dunn nutrition unit in Cambridge.

The arrival of computer tomography in Cambridge allowed Margaret to collaborate with Adrian Dixon on measures to assess the impact of human

central fat distribution on disease. “I remember my disagreement in the 1980s with a suggestion that UK adult obesity statistics could, in future, exceed the then level of 6%. The irony,” again, she admits.

In 1986, Margaret surprised everyone, including herself, by accepting the job of Principal of the Good Housekeeping Institute.

But while Margaret investigated vacuum cleaner functions and best-red-wine to go with steak, she was still strongly hooked into the world of nutrition. She was Secretary to The Nutrition Society for four years and was appointed onto the Government’s Food Advisory Committee (FAC) for nine years. For this she was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and says that, “Sitting on the FAC was fairly relaxing. I gave opinions and then others worked hard with follow-ups and actions. So in my case ‘other buggers’ efforts’ was fairly apt.”

Margaret admits that she only had to really start learning about nutrients (mainly macronutrients) in 1988 when she became Science Director of the BNF. She was thrown into the complexities of reviews on every nutrient that the roulette wheel of current science debate spun. Of course, this demanding full-time post was not enough for Margaret. She set up the nutrition freelance group, ‘London Nutcases’.

And developed the ‘Ashwell® Shape chart’ based on the ability of waist-height ratios to predict heart disease risk. She also wrote the definitive book about the lives of Robert McCance and Elsie Widdowson*, which she describes as the most satisfying achievement of her career. Oh yes, and brought up a young family. I was alarmed at the too-much-on-her-plate: how did she do it? “I just like being busy,” was her shoulder shrugging response to this repeated question.

Since 1995, Margaret has been a selfemployed nutrition consultant. In those early

days, she missed being part of a team. So what did she do? She set up the network of professional nutrition consultants (www.sensenutrition.org.uk) known as SENSE. The group now has 60+ members and organises excellent professional update meetings.

One of Margaret’s first self-employed projects was as research programme manager for the UK government, evaluating and monitoring research projects in the area of nutrition that she said she knew least about: micronutrients. She went on to be involved in many EU nutrition projects on diverse aspects of cradle-to-grave nutrition; this time as the partner responsible for dissemination. Supporting young researchers and giving them a pull or a push, is what she does best.

In 2015, she was elected to be President of the Association for Nutrition (AfN) admitting that this was another steep learning curve needing further knowledge of the regulatory scene and the ability to build bridges with other sciencebased nutrition professions (dietitians!). Just this year, Margaret was delighted to be made an Honorary Doctor of Science by the University of Westminster (she laughs that this is her only degree which actually mentions nutrition).

Margaret has had the unfair advantages of being spaniel-enthusiastic and super smart.

But her career success has not been without scrapes and I wince when she shows me her bruises and describes some of the punches that hit her. But, she is now stronger than ever. She loves mastering academic challenges, but mostly enjoys casting broadly science information. She pushes younger colleagues to do more than they feel ready for, but always supports them and always throws praise their way. She loves creating new ideas and new networks and the gatherings of colleagues. So many become her friends. As am I.

*McCance and Widdowson; A Scientific Partnership of 60 years British Nutrition Foundation, ed. Margaret Ashwell A very readable description of the lives and careers of M&W, in their own words and the reports of many close colleagues. The book is full of amazing stories of nutrition research from the 1930s onwards and how M&W pulled clarity from confusing and contradictory data.

www.NHDmag.com December 2018/January 2019 - Issue 140

45