U.S. Surgeon General to Keynote Special Childhood Obesity Prevention Presentation in Ph...( Presentation is part of the U.S. ...),Health

Presentation is part of the U.S. Surgeon General's national tour to highlight communities with effective childhood-obesity prevention programs

PHILADELPHIA, March 25 /PRNewswire/ -- In the United States today, more than 12.5 million children and adolescents - 17.1 percent of people ages 2 to 19 years - are overweight or obese. These children and adolescents are more likely to have serious cardiovascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes.

In an effort to combat this obesity epidemic, the U.S. Surgeon General's "Healthy Youth for a Healthy Future" initiative spotlights those communities throughout America that are coming together to address childhood obesity by encouraging kids to eat right and increase exercise to at least 60 minutes a day.

On April 3, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, U.S. Surgeon General Rear Admiral Steven K. Galson, MD, MPH, will discuss his "Healthy Youth for a Healthy Future" initiative and talk about ways that people who influence our children -- from parents, to educators, to community leaders and everyone in between -- can help change children's eating and activity habits. The panel will be followed by a question and answer session with the audience.

Participants discussing how their respective organizations are trying to solve the issue of childhood obesity include:

-- Calvin B. Johnson, MD, MPH, Secretary of Health, Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania;

-- Donald F. Schwarz, MD, MPH, Deputy Mayor, Health & Opportunity and

Health Commissioner, Philadelphia Department of Public Health will

speak

-- Tine Hansen-Turton, MGA, JD, Executive Director, National Nursing

Centers Consortium;

-- Mariana Chilton, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Department of Community

Health and Prevention, Drexel University

-- Vanessa Briggs, MBA, RD, LDN, Executive Director, Hea
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