Monday, September 15, 2008, 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
An estimated 1520 percent of children in the United States are overweight (BMI≥95th percentile), with many more at risk of overweight (BMI≥85th percentile). This estimate represents a dramatic increase over the last several decades and is of great concern due to the physical, emotional, and economic burdens that are associated with childhood obesity. The ability to stem and perhaps even reverse the tide hinges on the ability of the public health community to engage in surveillance of childhood obesity at the national and state levels. To help disseminate information about current surveillance efforts to the public health community, the Health Resources and Services Administrations Maternal and Child Health Bureau is pleased to present this Webcast on new approaches to state surveillance of childrens body mass index (BMI).
The presenters for this program will be Deb Galuska, Associate Director of Science at the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity Prevention of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Joseph Thompson, Surgeon General of the State of Arkansas and Director of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement; and Therese Hoyle, a public health consultant for CDC and the state of Michigan. Dr. Galuska will discuss the importance of the surveillance of childhood obesity and overweight, as well as the strengths and limitations of the major national surveys and CDC-supported state surveys that now include a focus on BMI. Dr. Thompson will discuss the approach taken by the state of Arkansas in screening for and preventing childhood obesity. He will provide a brief overview of the current picture of overweight among children in Arkansas and discuss challenges and lessons learned from the implementation of Arkansas school-based screening program. Ms. Hoyle will discuss how childrens BMI surveillance can be coordinated with state public health population-based immunization and child health systems. She will highlight the Michigan Care Improvement Registrys Child Health Integration Project as a model population-based system and will present data from the BMI surveillance efforts undertaken in San Diego, CA, and the state of Maine.