|
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
 Subscribe |
|
|
CONTACT:
Ann Gordon, Hager Sharp
202-842-3600
Christine Bruske, NIEHS
919-949-2308 |
Media Advisory
NIEHS Press Conference for
the Environmental Solutions to Obesity in America’s
Youth Conference
|
| What: |
Press Conference for NIEHS
Environmental Solutions to Obesity in America’s
Youth conference. |
| When: |
Wednesday, June 1, 10:15 a.m.
(immediately following opening remarks). |
| Where: |
Washington Convention Center, Room
203 A/B
801 Mount Vernon Place, NW
Washington, DC 20001 |
| Attendees: |
The Honorable Mike Leavitt, Secretary,
Department of Health and Human Services
Vice Admiral Richard H. Carmona, U.S. Surgeon
General
Dr. David Schwartz, Director, NIEHS
Lynn Swann, Chair, President’s Council on Physical
Fitness and Sports
|
| Why: |
National and community leaders
will join researchers to sort out how a child’s
environment increases the risk for obesity and
to identify ways the environment can be changed
to address this health epidemic. More than 700
people will gather for a two-day conference, “Environmental
Solutions to Obesity in America’s Youth,” sponsored
by the National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences, one of the National Institutes of Health. |
| Background: |
The NIEHS is working to determine
how the environment affects obesity rates and
how it can build upon promising programs that
create safe, healthy communities that help kids
make better choices and have active lifestyles.
In the last three decades, obesity has doubled
among preschoolers and adolescents and tripled
among kids between the ages of 6 and 11. |
| Conference Highlights: |
Government and community leaders
will share their success stories. Speakers from
such organizations as Latino Health Access and
California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness
will discuss how they developed culturally appropriate
environmental solutions to obesity in minority
communities.
Representatives from Florida, Massachusetts,
and North Carolina transportation organizations
will discuss how they improved children’s health
by making walking and bicycling to school safer,
easier and more enjoyable.
Researchers from the National Center for Smart
Growth, Louisiana State University, and Emory
University will share their research and insights
on how to effectively find and assess the connection
between the environment and obesity.
Industry will also be part of the discussion.
Sesame Street will join a panel discussion with
Pepsico, Sony Computer Entertainment, Stonyfield
Farm, child advocacy organization Children Now,
youth fitness program Girls on the Run, and
child health experts on the role industry and
media can play in lowering childhood obesity
rates.
Youth exercise and dance programs, including
the Belvoir Steppers, a stomp-dance and drumming
group from Fort Belvoir, VA, will be featured
at the evening reception. New videogame-based
exercise programs from Sony and Powergrid Fitness
will also be demonstrated.
Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee will be the
closing keynote speaker. |
| Registration: |
Members of the press interested
in conducting interviews with any of the speakers,
please contact Jennifer Browne 919-541-7848 or
Ann Gordon at 202-842-3600. Details about the
meeting, including the agenda, are posted on the Conference
website. |
| Directions: |
The Washington
Convention Center is located between 7th
and 9th Streets and N Street and Mt. Vernon
Place in downtown DC, right across from the
new City Museum. It is served by Ronald
Reagan National Airport (DCA), Dulles
International Airport (IAD), and Baltimore/Washington
International Airport (BWI). It is accessible
by Metro's Yellow
and Green lines. |
|
|
