Jan. 23-26 CA Child Obesity Conference to focus on prevention in high-risk groups |
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08 January 2007 ATTENTION: Health, childhood issues reporters and editors |
Contact:
Sarah Yang, Media Relations
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WHAT
"Protecting the Future of Our Children," the 2007 California Childhood Obesity Conference in Anaheim, Calif., will address our nation's childhood obesity epidemic with a focus on prevention strategies aimed at high-risk and low-income communities. Sessions will include research and evaluation, community planning and programs, infancy-to-adolescence development, pre-school and school programs, family perspectives, healthcare and marketing.
WHEN
Tuesday-Friday, Jan. 23-26. The conference agenda can be found online at: http://www.cce.csus.edu/conferences/childobesity/07/agenda.htm.
WHERE
Marriott Anaheim Hotel, 700 West Convention Way, Anaheim, Calif. Directions are online at: http://marriott.com/property/mapandnearbyairports/default.mi?marshaCode=laxah
WHO
Speakers will include Kim Belshé, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency; A.G. Kawamura, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture; Jack O'Connell, state superintendent of public instruction; Sandra Shewry, director of the California Department of Health Services; Dr. Mark Horton, state public health officer.
Keynote speakers will be Jeanette Betancourt, vice president of Content Design at Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street; Craig Kielburger, founder of Free The Children, the world's largest network of children helping children through education; and Dr. Richard J. Jackson, University of California, Berkeley, adjunct professor of environmental health and of city and regional planning and former state public health officer.
DETAILS
The four-day conference is the largest gathering on child obesity in the United States, and is expected to draw more than 1,700 participants from a wide range of fields, including education, public health, politics and business. The 2007 conference builds upon three previous conferences and will increase public awareness of prevention policies that support healthy eating and physical activity environments that meet the needs of target communities.
It is being hosted by UC Berkeley's Center for Weight and Health, the California Department of Health Services, the California Department of Education and The California Endowment.