FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Each year more than 300,000 Americans die of obesity or weight-related health conditions. At the same time, tens of millions of people report they’re trying to shed pounds. This week, the University of Arkansas will gather a dozen of the nation’s leading experts to discuss the evolution of the human diet. By understanding how diet developed throughout the history of our species, these researchers hope to offer insight on how the foods we eat impact our health and bodies today.

Supported by a $40,000 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, "The Evolution of Human Diet: the Known, the Unknown and the Unknowable" will take place Thursday and Friday, Aug. 14-15, in the Poultry Science Center Auditorium on campus. Experts on human evolution, nutrition, behavioral ecology, anthropology and medicine will provide two days of presentations aimed at educating the public about what is known and what can be known about diet and its relation to health.

All members of the media and public are invited to attend, free of charge. No registration is required.

"A lot of what the public assumes is known about diet is not, and much of that may, in fact, be unknowable. With diet books topping the best seller lists, telling people what we’re 'designed’ to eat, the public needs information to distinguish claims supported by scientific research from those based on conjecture," said Peter Ungar, professor of anthropology and the organizer of the symposium.

With presenters ranging from Boyd Eaton, an expert on evolutionary medicine to Barry Sears, author of the popular diet book, "The Zone," Ungar expects the conference to offer a wide examination of the subject - from academically-oriented research to consumer-oriented industry.

This broad perspective could provide valuable information to a number of audiences, including the general public, health professionals, nutritionists and scholars. In addition, it brings together researchers from a variety of fields to share their findings, which may open opportunities for collaboration across disciplines.

"There are many researchers examining the human diet and its evolution, but they’ve taken different approaches, and they come from different professional circles. As a result, they’re often not as familiar with each other’s work as they ought to be," Ungar said. "We hope the symposium will bring about a dynamic interaction that may move the field forward."

Over the course of two days, experts each will give a 50-minute presentation, followed by 10 minutes for questions from the audience. A Web site with presenters’ biographies and abstracts is available at http://www.sloandietworkshop.org/. A summary of the proceedings and an edited volume are expected to be published soon after the symposium.

PRESENTERS, Symposium on the Evolution of Human Diet:

Henry Bunn, professor of anthropology, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Loren Cordain, professor of health and exercise science, Colorado State University

David Daegling, associate professor of anthropology, University of Florida

Boyd Eaton, doctor of medicine, Emory University

Frederick Grine, professor of anthropology, Stony Brook University

Katharine Milton, professor of environmental science, University of California - Berkeley

Margaret Schoeninger, professor of anthropology, University of California - San Diego

Barry Sears, president, Sears Labs, author of "The Zone"

Jeanne Sept, professor of anthropology, Indiana University - Bloomington

John Shea, associate professor of anthropology, Stony Brook University

Mark Teaford, professor of functional anatomy and evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Peter Ungar, professor of anthropology, University of Arkansas

Richard Wrangham, Ruth Moore Professor of Anthropology, Peabody Museum, Harvard University