Georgia ranks as the third worst state in the nation for overweight or obese children. To begin to deal with this issue, representatives from universities, government agencies and healthcare, public health, philanthropic and community organizations in the state will convene in Atlanta this month to share findings and identify ways they can act together to tackle the problem.
Open free to the public, “Addressing Childhood Obesity in Georgia: Scientific, Educational, Philanthropic, Community-Based and Legislative Efforts” will be held Nov. 19 and 20 at the Global Learning Center on the campus of Georgia Tech. Sponsored by the University System of Georgia and the Georgia Research Alliance, the conference will be attended by faculty, scientists, and graduate and undergraduate students from the state’s research universities. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and its affiliated Georgia Children’s Health Alliance, which have made childhood obesity prevention a priority, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are among the other participating organizations and agencies.
“Childhood obesity is rampant in Georgia,” said David Lee, vice president for research at UGA and one of the conference organizers. “We hope this conference will lead to partnerships among Georgia’s research universities and communities to mitigate this epidemic.”
The rate of childhood obesity nationally is four times higher than it was 40 years ago. A 2009 study by Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation identified 37.3 percent of Georgia’s children ages 10-17 as overweight or obese. The rate of obesity is especially high among children living in rural areas of Georgia.
While childhood obesity is a health crisis now, the full impact of Georgia’s child obesity epidemic won’t be felt until further down the road, according to Marsha Davis, an associate professor of health promotion and behavior in the College of Public Health.
“Even now we are seeing more adult diseases, including hypertension and type 2 diabetes, diagnosed in children,” said Davis, who also is one of the conference planners. “But for the first time in 200 years, today’s generation of children are projected to have a shorter life span than their parents, largely due to obesity and its related diseases. The long-term impacts of obesity cut across areas of health cost, quality of life and workforce.”
The impacts of chronic diseases like obesity go beyond individuals’ health, said Lee.
“They are also increasingly burdensome for the state and employers in the form of spiraling healthcare costs,” he said.
Obesity prevention is a very complex issue that must be addressed by communities, according to Davis.
“Broad-based community partnerships have the potential to develop more effective interventions, enhance the translation of the results into practice, and most importantly, be sustainable,” she said.
UGA is in a unique position to join with communities to develop, implement and evaluate obesity prevention efforts, according to Lee.
“We have faculty who are experts in nutrition, school exercise programs, health-risk communications, the use of new media to better communicate with youth, health policies and assessment of intervention methods,” he said. “We also can take advantage of the University of Georgia Archway Partnership project, which is known across the state for its successful community outreach programs.”
