2022 Childhood Obesity and Public Health Conference

September 9, 2022

For more information, contact Aryelle Stafford, aryelle.stafford@pbrc.edu, or 225-763-2877

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — Pennington Biomedical Research Center and the Louisiana Department of Education have teamed up to host a Childhood Obesity and Public Health Conference on Thursday, September 29, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the C.B. Pennington Jr. Conference Center, 6400 Perkins Road.

The theme for this year’s in-person conference is: Getting Louisiana’s Kids Back on a Healthy Track. Public health professionals, healthcare policy makers, researchers, early childhood and school-age educators and decision makers will hear from local and national experts on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on childhood obesity, recent advances in federal school nutrition policies and an overview of implementation science and its role in childhood obesity prevention and treatment. 

Presenters will also explore the Louisiana perspective on the medical management and treatment of childhood obesity and the role early childhood education settings and communities play in addressing the problem.

“Childhood obesity remains one of the greatest challenges to public health we face. Louisiana leads the nation in childhood obesity, and the COVID pandemic has accelerated the increases we have been observing over the last several decades. Concerted action will be required to get kids back on a healthy track," according to Peter Katzmarzyk, PhD, Professor and Associate Executive Director for Population and Public Health Sciences at Pennington Biomedical.

Online registration is now open.

LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center partnered with the Louisiana Department of Education’s Division of Nutrition Support to launch the Louisiana Fit Kids project. Just as participation in USDA child nutrition programs is associated with increased academic performance, the Louisiana Fit Kids project aims to strengthen our state’s child nutrition programs to help bolster academic achievement and children’s success through a variety of key initiatives. Child nutrition programs in Louisiana play an important role in improving diet, reducing food insecurity and improving overall health. A healthy student is better enabled to learn and succeed, and all students in Louisiana deserve that chance.

 

About LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center

The Pennington Biomedical Research Center is at the forefront of medical discovery as it relates to understanding the triggers of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and dementia. The Center architected the “Obecity, USA” awareness and advocacy campaign to help solve the obesity epidemic by 2040. The Center conducts basic, clinical, and population research, and is affiliated with Louisiana State University. The research enterprise at Pennington Biomedical includes over 480 employees within a network of 40 clinics and research laboratories, and 13 highly specialized core service facilities. Its scientists and physician/scientists are supported by research trainees, lab technicians, nurses, dietitians, and other support personnel. Pennington Biomedical is located in state-of-the-art research facilities on a 222-acre campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more information, see https://www.pbrc.edu.