University Park, Pa. -- Penn State will partner with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in sponsoring the National Obesity Action Forum June 5-6, in Bethesda, Md.
The two-day meeting will address the problem of obesity in the nation by bringing together federal, state and local public health officials as well as advocacy groups, nutrition and physical fitness experts, health-care providers and school and food industry representatives to further develop action plans toward preventing obesity.
Obesity is a major risk factor for heart disease, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers. It also is associated with approximately 112,000 deaths each year in the United States. An estimated 17 percent of children and adolescents are overweight, a problem with many associated health and social consequences that often continue into adulthood.
The forum is sponsored by department's National Institutes of Health's Division of Nutrition Research Coordination; the Office of Public Health and Science, Regions I-X; and Penn State Outreach. It will identify lessons learned in implementing change at the family and community levels; showcase various successful community models; and provide tools for local leaders to develop their own collaborations, as well as ways to sustain and evaluate those programs.
Forum speakers include Adm. John O. Agwunobi, assistant secretary for health, U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, and Rear Adm. Van S. Hubbard, HHS secretary's senior adviser on obesity.
For more information about the conference, visit http://www.outreach.psu.edu/C&I/Obesity/ online.
The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity is available at http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity online.