September 4, 2001

Contact: Kim Johnson, health, sport and exercise sciences, (785) 864-0797.

Kansas conference to focus on obesity epidemics in Kansas and Missouri

LAWRENCE --- Kansas and Missouri residents who are concerned about obesity and its rising prevalence in their communities are invited to join state legislators and health officials at a town meeting about the obesity epidemic at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15, in the Hyatt Regency Crown Center, 2345 McGee St., Kansas City, Mo.

The town meeting is part of the University of Kansas' third annual Conference on the Treatment and Prevention of Obesity.

For this conference, KU has invited health officials Nisreen Kabeer from Jefferson City, Mo., and Paula E. Marmet, Topeka, to talk about the epidemic numbers of people suffering from obesity in the two states.

Kabeer and Marmet will be joined by Kansas state Sen. Sandy Praeger of Lawrence and Missouri state Sen. Mary Groves Bland of Jefferson City in reviewing steps being taken in each state to reduce the health risks from obesity.

Those risks include heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, hypertension, cancers, bone and joint disease and sleep apnea. Obesity is the second leading cause of unnecessary deaths, according to the American Obesity Association. It affects at least 39 million Americans, including more than one-fourth of adults and approximately one-fifth of children.

According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease, obesity and overweight conditions cost $99.2 billion in 1995 alone. This included $51.6 billion in direct costs, or 5.7 percent of the total U.S. health expenditure.

The primary audience for the two-day event is health professionals, including physicians, nurses, dieticians, pharmacists, psychologists, occupational and physical therapists and public health officials. Registration is $175 for physicians, $140 for other health professionals and $25 for full-time students; this includes lunch and an evening reception on Friday and continental breakfast on Saturday morning. Continuing education credit is available. The town meeting, however, is designed for the general public, and KU is offering a special rate of $10 so that nonprofessionals may attend this session, said Kim Johnson, administrative assistant for the conference. Those interested in attending the full conference or only the town meeting should contact Kim Johnson at (785) 864-0797 or kim@ku.edu for registration information. Registration will close on Sept. 10.

The directors of the conference are Joseph E. Donnelly, a KU professor in the School of Educationÿs Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Sciences and researcher of weight management at the KU-Lawrence campus, and Dr. James Early, Director of Clinical Prevention in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the KU School of Medicine-Wichita.

Barbara J. Moore, president of Shape Up America, Washington, D.C., will open the conference at 9 a.m. Friday, Sept. 14, with the talk "The Changing Shape of Fitness in America."

Health professionals in weight management will talk about:

 • surgical approaches to treating obesity
 • obesity among young Native Americans
 • the food industry's response to obesity
 • employersÿ plans to treat and prevent obesity
 • environmental factors influencing obesity
 • behavioral strategies to promote weight loss and maintenance
 • recent research on using and maintaining physical activity
 • dietary strategies to treat obesity in children
 • type 2 diabetes in children

Health professionals making presentations will include:

 • Dr. Sonia Caprio, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn., "The New Epidemic of Type 2 Diabetes in Children"
 • Dr. David Dzewaltowski, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan., "Promotion of Physical Activity and Diet in Children Through Community Development"
 • Dr. Scott Going, University of Arizona, Tucson, "Preventing Obesity in Native American Youth"
 • Dr. Jeanne P. Goldberg, Tufts University's Center on Nutrition Communication, Newton Centre, Mass., "Sisters Together - Move More, Eat Better"
 • Dr. C. Keith Haddock and Dr. Walker S. Carlos Poston, University of Missouri-Kansas City and MidAmerica Heart Institute, Kansas City, Mo., "Meta-analytic Findings for the Use of Pharmacotherapy in Obesity"
 • Jean Harvey-Berino, University of Vermont, Burlington, "Lifestylechange.com: Can You Jog Along the Information Superhighway?"
 • Rob Kingsbury, radio talk show host, KCTE, Independence, Mo., "Children's Health"
 • Dr. Mary Mason, Washington University Physicians Network, Alton, Ill., "Managed Care Efforts to Treat Obesity"
 • Dr. Richard W. McCallum, KU Medical Center, Kansas City, Kan., "A Novel Surgical Treatment of Obesity"
 • Gayle R. O'Connell, St. Luke's Shawnee Mission Health System, Kansas City, Mo., "Employer Plans to Prevent and Treat Obesity"
 • Tom E. Peddicord, Pharm. D., Roche Laboratories, Lenexa, Roundtable Moderator  • Dr. Michael G. Perri, University of Florida Health Science Center, Gainesville, Fla., "New Research on Use and Maintenance of Physical Activity"
 • Dr. John C. Peters, associate director, Proctor & Gamble Nutrition Science Institute, Cincinnati, Ohio, "Industry's Response to Obesity"
 • Dr. Robert D. Reynolds, University of Illinois-Chicago, "Nutritional Concerns When Climbing Mt. Everest"
 • Dr. Melinda S. Sothern, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, La., "Dietary Strategies to Prevent and Treat Obesity in Children"