ADVANCE FOR RELEASE October 19, 1998
Media Contact: Tom Ryan ([email protected]), Doris Acosta or M. Johnna Thomas
800/877-1600, ext. 4894, 4822 or 4769
October 19-22, 1998
Kansas City Convention Center, Kansas City, Mo.
Press Room, Room 2210A
816-871-3442
(Please do not publish these numbers.)
'EPIDEMIC OF OBESITY': SCIENTISTS AND NUTRITION PROFESSIONALS BATTLE A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS THAT AFFECTS EVERYONE
KANSAS CITY-- Scientists and health-care professionals now call it an epidemic, a public health crisis that is having an increasing impact on every aspect of health care in America.
Obesity contributes to more than 300,000 potentially avoidable deaths each year. Health-care costs attributable to obesity amount to nearly $70 billion per year. Half the population is overweight and a third is obese, according to the latest federal guidelines. Obesity is a major risk factor for a heart attack. Children are affected, as are the elderly and everyone in between.
Health professionals from physicians and psychologists to geneticists and dietitians are fighting "the war on obesity" -- and increasingly they're working together on new approaches and treatment programs. It's not surprising, therefore, that lectures, panels and research reports on obesity are among the most significant sessions scheduled for the annual gathering of the world's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals -- The American Dietetic Association's 81st Annual Meeting and Exhibition, Oct. 19-22 in Kansas City, Mo.
A special supplement to the October issue of The Journal of The American Dietetic Association titled "The Epidemic of Obesity" contains nearly a dozen articles focusing on prevention and treatment. Registered dietitian and ADA president Ann Coulston calls for "a rethinking" of current programs to "include a variety of health professionals to deal with the lifestyle changes needed to treat this condition." Copies of the supplement will be available at the Annual Meeting.
At a two-part session on the future of obesity treatment -- Is Obesity a Disease? at 1:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19, and New Treatment Paradigms at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21 -- some of the nation's leading obesity researchers will give up-to-the-minute reports on genetic and environmental factors underlying obesity; its psychological dimensions; obesity in children and the elderly; drug treatments; exercise programs and ways health professionals can work together on effective multidisciplinary approaches.
Monday's speakers include: ß Dr. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, director of the obesity research center at St. Luke's/Roosevelt Hospital, New York City, who will discuss the federal obesity guidelines issued in June by the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Pi-Sunyer chaired the expert panel that developed the guidelines, which indicate that 97 million adult Americans -- more than half the adult population -- is overweight or obese.
ß Dr. William Dietz, director of the division of nutrition and physical activity at the Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, who will discuss the latest developments in treating obesity in children.
ß Kelly Brownell, professor of psychology and epidemiology and director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders at Yale University. Brownell, a nationally known authority on psychological aspects of eating disorders, obesity and body weight regulation, will discuss "behavioral challenges" to treating obesity.
Wednesday's session will include: ß Dr. Louis Arrone, clinical associate professor of medicine at Cornell University Medical College and director of the university's Comprehensive Weight Control Program, who will discuss new trends and developments in the medical management of obesity.
ß John P. Foreyt, director of the nutrition research clinic at Baylor College of Medicine, who will discuss biological and environmental factors in the development of obesity. Foreyt is principal investigator for obesity drug studies including the effects of Orlistat in treating obesity with dietary counseling and effects of Lovan (Fluxotene) on weight maintenance after a very low-calorie diet.
Speakers at a 2:30 p.m. session Tuesday, Oct. 20, led by registered dietitian and former ADA president Ronni Chernoff, chair of ADA's "Nutrition and Health for Older Americans" campaign, will examine Obesity in the Elderly: A New Look at an Old Problem.
"This is a major public health hazard, a crisis of epic proportions," says Dr. Gordon L. Jensen, director of clinical nutrition at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. His studies of more than 12,000 elderly Pennsylvania residents indicates that a third of older people are obese -- many because they were obese in middle age -- and their numbers are rising.
Jensen will present new findings from his research into the "tremendous growing prevalence of obesity" in older people and its impact both on their health and on their everyday quality of life. "There are strong relationships between the degree of overweight in older people and the extent of functional limitations they suffer," he says. "We have new, quite striking data on relationships between functional limitations and increasing body mass among older women."
During the same session, William Evans, director of nutrition, exercise and metabolism at the Little Rock, Ark., Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University of Arkansas, will discuss new approaches to weight reduction and "non-medical management" of obesity in the elderly.
With the obesity rate among children exceeding 20 percent in recent surveys, researchers are working on specialized treatments for adolescents and teenagers. At a 9:30 a.m. session Wednesday, Oct. 21, Strength in Partnerships: Nutrition Research and Women's Health, Kathleen Rourke, associate dean of the College of Allied Health Sciences at the University of Cincinnati, will report results of her "team-based" approach to treating adolescent obesity.
Her program includes extensive involvement of parents and a buddy system that pairs the girls with nutrition and dietetics students for education and support. (The release Children's nutrition and health: Research shows kids can't do it alone contains additional details on Rourke's presentation).
Research by Susan Lutz, a registered dietitian and researcher in nutrition and food science at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and her colleagues indicates that "modifiable factors in the family environment," such as television watching and parenting styles, can contribute to development and treatment of obesity in children. Lutz will discuss her work at a session at 11 a.m. Monday, Following Industry's Lead: Applying Mass Media, Social Marketing Techniques and Consumer Profiles to Enhance Nutrition Education -- Our Data Say It Works.
The 70,000 member American Dietetic Association is the world's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. More than 10,000 of the nation's top nutrition researchers, registered dietitians and other industry leaders are attending the Annual Meeting and Exhibition. Based in Chicago, the ADA serves the public by promoting optimal nutrition, health and well-being.
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