Georgia Commissioner of Public Health to address obesity in Georgia

Athens, Ga. – Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health and State Health Officer, will visit the University of Georgia on Tuesday, July 31 to provide an update on adult and childhood obesity in Georgia, and current local and state initiatives to address the epidemic. Her presentation, “A State Perspective on Obesity,” will be held from 2 to 3 p.m. in Room 175 of the Paul D. Coverdell Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences.
The presentation is sponsored by the UGA Obesity Initiative, launched in January 2012 to harness diverse and extensive obesity-related instruction, research activities and public service and outreach components to address the growing epidemic of childhood and adult obesity, as well as the increasing incidence of overweight infants, in Georgia. Under the direction of Clifton Baile, GRA Eminent Scholar and D.W. Brooks Distinguished Professor in the UGA departments of animal and dairy science and foods and nutrition, the initiative is developing obesity prevention and treatment programs that interested Georgia communities, employers and healthcare providers can implement.
Fitzgerald, a board-certified Obstetrician-Gynecologist and a Fellow in Anti-Aging Medicine, has practiced medicine for three decades. As commissioner, Fitzgerald oversees various state public health programs including Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Maternal and Child Health, Infectious Disease and Immunization, Environmental Health, Epidemiology, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Emergency Medical Services, Pharmacy, Nursing, Volunteer Health Care, the Office of Health Equity, Vital Records and the State Public Health Laboratory. Fitzgerald also directs the state’s 18 public health districts and 159 county health departments. Prior to joining DPH, Fitzgerald held numerous leadership positions.