Panel: Choices, system change keys to reducing childhood obesity
Friday, February 17, 2012
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Posted by: Kezia Pigford
Originally published in the Shreveport Times on February 17, 2012
Written By Melody Brumble
Panelists at the Aspen Ideas Mini-Festival forum on childhood obesity
Thursday in Shreveport agreed that individual choices and systemic
change are needed to address the issue.Dr.
Neslihan Gungor of LSU Health Shreveport, biostatistician Stephanie
Broyles of Pennington Biomedical Research Center and Misty Alexander,
coordinator for the Fit Cities Challenge coalition, engaged in a
give-and-take with about 40 audience members.  It's
the fourth year the Community Foundation has put on a forum to address a
community issue. The program is modeled on the Aspen Ideas Festival.
Gungor,
an endocrinologist, works with overweight and obese children in the
area. She said rates of type 2 diabetes have exploded among youngsters.
She also cited a Mississippi study that showed youngsters with type 2
diabetes have artery problems comparable to those of people in their 50s
and 60s. She
believes prevention, starting with education for parents of newborn
babies, is crucial to reducing obesity rates. She also said secondary
prevention — working with families after members are overweight — can
help reduce obesity-related diseases. "I think the emphasis should be on health, not weight," Gungor said. Broyles
and Alexander believe efforts to promote healthy weight should emphasize physical activity, as well as nutrition. Alexander also thinks
portion control should be part of the conversation. "I
kind of liken it to vaccinations," Alexander said. "You get your child
vaccinated against chicken pox. We need to vaccinate against the type 2
diabetes. We need to vaccinate against the heart attacks."
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