PRESS RELEASE………………………………..FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Phyllis Smith
919-542-8202
Local professionals have been selected to attend “Preventing Childhood Overweight and Obesity - Cooperative Extension: Making a Difference in Nutrition and Fitness of Families, Youth and Communities!” A Southern Region Conference hosted by Family, Youth & Community Sciences University of Florida and The National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. The Chatham County team was one of five teams selected statewide to receive a scholarship to attend this conference. The team is comprised of Phyllis Smith, RD, LDN, Family and Consumer Education agent and Sarah Hardison, Extension agent, 4-H and Youth Development, Chatham County Center, North Carolina Cooperative Extension; Sarah Worley, Health Educator and Debbie Cox, RN, Adolescent Nurse, Chatham County Health Department and Marianne Nicholson, Child Care Network. The goal of the conference is to identify creative and collaborative strategies to promote healthy lifestyles and reduce the burden of childhood overweight in southern states. Phyllis Smith, RD, LDN, Family and Consumer Education agent with Chatham County, stated that this is an excellent opportunity to strengthen and increase the level of collaboration with both internal and external partnerships to address the childhood overweight issues.
Overweight/obesity among children has become an epidemic affecting greater than 15% of America's youth. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that since 1980, the number of overweight children ages 6-11 years has more than doubled and has tripled for youth ages 12-19. Currently, children are classified as being overweight if they have a Body Mass Index (BMI) value at or above the 95th percentile on the 2000 CDC age- and sex-specific BMI growth chart. Children are at risk of being overweight if they have a BMI between the 85th and 94th percentile. According to the North Carolina Nutrition and Physical Activity Surveillance Survey 2003 report, Chatham County has a ranking of 37% in children ages 2-18 years in the overweight / obesity range, the state average is 31%. Consequences of childhood overweight include an increased risk of adult overweight, medical complications (such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes), and psychological implications.
Larry Arrington, Dean for Extension at the University of Florida, views “this conference as an excellent professional opportunity. It will take all of us working together to accomplish the noble goals of this effort.”
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