Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University to Host Luncheon on Childhood Obesity

The Fourth Enlightenment Luncheon with Stephanie Blank, Laura Seydel and Lisa Tush this Thursday, November 11, 2010

The phrase “let’s do lunch” takes on an entirely new meaning when Stephanie Blank, Laura Seydel and Lisa Tush are extending the invitation. These women have created a series of Enlightenment Luncheons designed to inform audiences about the environmental health issues facing our children and to inspire a call to action to make a difference.

Childhood Obesity: An Issue Plaguing Our Nation’s Youth, the fourth in the series, is scheduled from noon to 2 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 11, at the Four Seasons Hotel in midtown Atlanta. It will feature William H. Dietz, M.D., Ph.D., director of the division of nutrition, physical activity and obesity at the CDC. Dr. Dietz will present the keynote speech about the obesity epidemic followed by a panel of experts in a question-and-answer session.

Dr. Dietz’ position at the CDC is a testament to his weighty role in the expanding field of obesity. His efforts to impact childhood obesity spans decades, including being professor of pediatrics at the Tuft’s University School of Medicine and Director of Clinical Nutrition at the Floating Hospital of New England Medical Center Hospitals. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine, a recipient of the Holroyd-Sherry award from the American Academy of Pediatrics for his contributions to the field of children and the media. Finally, he is the recipient of the 2006 Nutrition Research award from the AAP for outstanding research in pediatric nutrition.

He will discuss the far-reaching implications of childhood obesity on children in our country and in our community.

The panel of experts will include:

Veda Johnson, M.D. is Assistant Professor, Emory School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics. She is co-founder of the Whitefoord Community Program, which provides medical and other services to disadvantaged members of the community. Dr. Johnson has participated in the development of national standards for comprehensive school-based health programs for the purpose of improving the quality of school health services.

Christi Kay is Executive Director, HealthMPowers and has been a leader in health education in Georgia for more than 25 years. She has been instrumental in developing the curriculum for HealthMPowers, as well as authoring materials including a program that integrates physical activity and math and a student fitness portfolio. She is a national trainer with the CDC with the School Health Index and a member of the Georgia Department of Education’s Health Education Advisory Committee.

Alice Rolls is Executive Director, Georgia Organics where she leads efforts to integrate healthy, sustainable and locally-grown food into the lives of all Georgians. She has completed five years of a farmer-to-farmer mentoring program to grow more farmers; launched a farm-to-school program to educate kids about health foods and get into gardening; and published the Local Food Guide to connect consumers with local, sustainably-grown foods in Georgia.

Stephanie Walsh, M.D. is Medical Director-Childhood Wellness, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Assistant Professor, Emory School of Medicine. She has been instrumental in building the obesity clinic at Children’s and is committed to the expansion of its current efforts. She is responsible for the medical direction of the overall Child Wellness strategy at Children’s, including implementation of evidence-based methods toward the prevention and treatment of obesity. She is also responsible for tracking and measuring data to determine the clinical effectiveness of these efforts.

Special Interest Speaker:

Leslie Rubin, M.D. is President and Founder of the Institute for the Study of Disadvantage and Disability, as well as Research Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. Dr. Rubin and Georgia State University law student, Raymond Lindholm, will be presenting their "Break the Cycle" project, which examines environmental health disparities with a focus on research relating to childhood obesity and the built environment.

The past three luncheons have garnered sold-out attendance with more than 300 people at each event. Tickets for the luncheon are $50 per person until Thursday, Nov. 4, or $60 per person thereafter, if seats are still available. Call 404-727-3232 or visit the website to RSVP.