September 2006

News from the PAN Branch

Eat Smart, Move More: North Carolina’s Plan to Prevent Overweight, Obesity and Related Chronic Diseases Released

On August 29, 2006, a statewide team of obesity prevention professionals released Eat Smart, Move More: North Carolina’s Plan to Prevent Overweight, Obesity and Related Chronic Diseases during a national obesity summit in Raleigh.

The Eat Smart Move More Five Year Plan offers specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-framed goals for anyone who is interested in creating a North Carolina where healthy eating and physical activity are the norm, rather than the exception in communities, schools and preschools, worksites, places of worship, and other venues. The plan outlines four goals, including:

1. Increase healthy eating and physical activity opportunities for all North Carolinians by fostering supportive policies and environments.
2. Increase the percentage of North Carolinians who are at a healthy weight.
3. Increase the percentage of North Carolinians who consume a healthy diet.
4. Increase the percentage of North Carolina adults, youth and children ages 2 and up who participate in the recommended amounts of physical activity.

Not only does the plan include four overarching goals to guide our state’s obesity prevention efforts, but the Eat Smart Five Year Plan also provides specific strategies for increasing awareness, changing behaviors, and creating policies and environments that promote and support physical activity and healthy eating in a variety of settings.

The Eat Smart, Move More Five-Year Plan supports the Eat Smart, Move More…North Carolina initiative, a statewide movement that encourages people to eat smart and move more wherever they live, learn, work, pray and play. You can download a copy of the Eat Smart Move More Five Year Plan on the Eat Smart, Move More…North Carolina Web site at www.EatSmartMoveMoreNC.com.

Also released were the Eat Smart, Move More County Profiles, a collection of one-page documents profiling the successes and needs of each 100 counties in the state in the area of obesity prevention. The profiles also emphasize the need for more policies and environments that help make healthy eating and physical activity the norm, rather than the exception.

The release of these documents was a part of the Healthier North Carolina Summit, a day-long conference that brought together state and national leaders and experts to address the fight against obesity. The event was hosted by Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the N.C. Division of Public Health, in partnership with Healthy Carolinians. For more information about the summit, please visit www.HealthyAmericans.org/ncsummit.

Programs, Projects and Initiatives

2006 NC 5 A Day Symposium and Excellence Award Program

The 2006 NC 5 A Day Symposium, held on August 9, 2006 in Winston-Salem, NC was a big success. Participants learned about successes in NC to increase awareness and consumption of fruits and vegetables and the new direction for the state and national 5 A Day Program. The event also featured the presentation of the 2006 NC 5 A Day State Excellence Awards to five deserving organizations who have implemented fun and innovative approaches in schools and communities. Download the full article at the NC 5 A Day website to read all about this exciting event (including pictures), the speakers, award winners and NC 5 A Day Steering Committee members, that together with the attendees, made the event come alive to inspire renewed commitment and ideas to help all North Carolinians increase their intake of fruits and veggies.

Success Stories

See the Eat Smart, Move More County Profiles identified above and found at www.EatSmartMoveMoreNC.com.

Featured Resources and Research

New CDC Website For Worksite Health Promotion Planners

CDC’s Healthier Worksite Initiative (HWI) is pleased to announce the availability of their Web site, which is intended to complement the Office of Personnel Management’s HealthierFeds campaign.

This resource is designed as a “one-stop shop” for planners of workforce health promotion programs at federal and state agencies. The site features timesaving planning information, policy examples, step-by-step toolkits, and other quick resources to assist federal and state wellness planners in developing programs that foster healthy lifestyles among their employees.

If you have any questions or comments about the Web site, please contact HWI at healthierworksite@cdc.gov

Environmental Nutrition and Activity Local Policy Database (ENACT) Local Policy Database Now Online

Prevention Institute, with funding from The California Endowment, is excited to announce the availability of the Environmental Nutrition and Activity Local Policy Database online! The searchable database, part of Prevention Institute’s work to support local efforts through Strategic Alliance, provides community advocates, health professionals, policymakers and those working in related fields with concrete examples of local-level policies adopted and/or implemented to improve nutrition and physical activity environments. Have an example of a local policy to make healthy eating easier for your community, developed a local plan to improve walkability, or established a policy to make sure students get active? They would love to hear from you! Send examples to linda@preventioninstitute.org so they can continue to create a groundswell of health-oriented policies.

New County-Level Trend Data from the State Center for Health Statistics

The State Center for Health Statistics (SCHS) has just released an updated version of their report on county-level trends, titled North Carolina Statewide and County Trends in Key Health Indicators. These graphs and associated data can be accessed on their web site.

A major criterion for choosing these sixteen indicators is that there are large enough numbers of events (for a multi-year period) to produce reliable rates for most counties in North Carolina. Kathleen Jones-Vessey and her staff for prepared this information. For more information or comments about this service of the State Center please contact Paul Buescher, Director, Sate Center for Health Statistics at paul.buescher@ncmail.net.

New National Cancer Institute (NCI) Study Shows That Being Overweight at Middle Age Can Be Harmful

Being overweight during midlife is associated with an increased risk of death, according to a new study conducted by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, in collaboration with AARP, the nation’s leading organization for persons 50-Plus. Results of the study appear in the August 24, 2006, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine(1). An early release of the article is posted on the New England Journal of Medicine website at this site.

Previous research had established a link between obesity and increased risk of death, but whether a relationship also existed between being overweight and increased risk of death remained uncertain. In 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 34.1 percent of the U.S. adult population was overweight, but not obese(2). Overweight and obesity are defined using a measurement called body-mass index (BMI), calculated as a person’s weight divided by the square of their height. A BMI of 18.5 - 25.0 is considered normal, whereas people who have a BMI of 25.0 - 29.9 are considered overweight, and individuals with a BMI over 30.0 are regarded as obese.

The NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study of 527,265 monitored the health status of Americans from 1995 through 2005 via mailed questionnaires and by surveying death records. When the analysis focused on BMI at age 50 among persons who had never smoked, the researchers, led by Kenneth F. Adams, Ph.D., of NCI’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, found that the risk of mortality among participants who were overweight increased by 20 to 40 percent. Mortality risk among obese participants increased two to three-fold.

Excess body weight is known to increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, pulmonary disease, and diabetes. Furthermore, a recent study suggested that increased body weight is related to an elevated risk of mortality from cancer.

“Any associations between mortality and being overweight have important clinical and public health implications, including risk of cancer. Tackling this public health problem could make an important difference in reducing cancer rates,” said NCI Director John E. Niederhuber, M.D.

(1) Adams KF, Schatzkin A, Harris TB, Kipnis B, Mouw T, Ballard-Barbash R, Hollenbeck A, Leitzmann MF. Overweight, obesity, and mortality in a large prospective cohort of persons 50 to 71 years old: body mass and the risk of death from any cause. New England Journal of Medicine August 24, 2006; 355:Vol. 8.

(2)CDC obesity statistics

College Women at Risk for Eating Disorder May Benefit from Online Intervention

A long-term, large-scale study has found that an Internet-based intervention program may prevent some high risk, college-age women from developing an eating disorder. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), was published in the August 2006 issue of the “Archives of General Psychiatry.”

The researchers conducted a randomized, controlled trial of 480 college-age women in the San Francisco Bay area and San Diego, Calif., who were identified in preliminary interviews as being at risk for developing an eating disorder. The trial included an eight-week, Internet-based, cognitive-behavioral intervention program called “Student Bodies,” which had been shown to be effective in previous small-scale short-term studies. The intervention aimed to reduce the participants’ concerns about body weight and shape, enhance body image, promote healthy eating and weight maintenance, and increase knowledge about the risks associated with eating disorders.

The online program included reading and other assignments such as keeping an online body-image journal. Participants also took part in an online discussion group, moderated by clinical psychologists. Participants were interviewed immediately following the end of the online program, and annually for up to three years thereafter to determine their attitudes toward their weight and shape, and measure the onset of any eating disorders.

“Eating disorders are complex and particularly difficult to treat. In fact, they have one of the highest mortality rates among all mental disorders,” said NIMH Director Thomas Insel, M.D. “This study shows that innovative intervention can work, and offers hope to those trying to overcome these illnesses.”

Over the course of a lifetime, about 0.5 to 3.7 percent of girls and women will develop anorexia nervosa, and about 1.1 to 4.2 percent will develop bulimia nervosa. About 0.5 percent of those with anorexia die each year as a result of their illness, making it one of the top psychiatric illnesses that lead to death.

Anorexia generally is characterized by a resistance to maintaining a healthy body weight, an intense fear of gaining weight, and other extreme behaviors that result in severe weight loss. People with anorexia see themselves as overweight even when they are dangerously thin. Bulimia generally is characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating, followed by self-induced purging behaviors. People with bulimia often have normal weights, but like those with anorexia, they are intensely dissatisfied with their bodies. All eating disorders involve multiple biological, behavioral and social factors that are not well understood.

The intervention appeared to be most successful among overweight women who had elevated body mass indexes (BMIs) of 25 or more at the start of the program. In fact, among these women in the intervention group, none developed an eating disorder after two years, while 11.9 percent of the women with comparable baseline BMIs in the control group did develop an eating disorder during the same time frame. BMI is a reliable indicator of a person’s body fat by measuring his or her weight and height.

The program also appeared to help women in the San Francisco Bay area who had some symptoms of an eating disorder at the start of the program, such as self-induced vomiting; laxative, diet pill or diuretic use; or excessive exercise. Of those in the intervention group with these characteristics, 14 percent developed an eating disorder within two years, while 30 percent of those with these characteristics in the control group developed an eating disorder during the same time frame.

The authors suggest that the intervention helped these high-risk women become less concerned about their weight and shape, while also helping them understand healthier eating and nutrition practices.

“This is the first study to show that eating disorders can be prevented among high-risk groups,” said lead author C. Barr Taylor, M.D., of Stanford University. “The study also provides evidence that elevated weight and shape concerns are causal risk factors for developing an eating disorder,” he added.

The study suggests that relatively inexpensive options such as Internet-based interventions can have lasting effects on women at high risk of developing an eating disorder. However, the authors note that the results cannot be generalized widely because there were differences in the women’s baseline characteristics and treatment responses between the two sites used in the study.

Also, the rate at which the women stuck with the program was very high — nearly 80 percent of the online program’s Web pages were read — suggesting that the participants were unusually motivated. “Women who are less motivated may be less likely to participate in or stick with this type of long-term intervention,” added Taylor.

For more information, visit this site.

A Little TLC Goes a Long Way Toward Reducing High Cholesterol

If you’re one of the nearly 65 million Americans with high blood cholesterol, National Cholesterol Education Month (September) is a perfect time to read a new publication designed to help you make the lifestyle changes needed to reduce cholesterol and, with it, your risk for heart disease.

“Your Guide to Lowering Your Cholesterol with TLC (Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes)”, a new consumer booklet from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health details a three-part program of diet, physical activity, and weight management designed to bring cholesterol levels down.

“Lifestyle is crucial for lowering cholesterol but it’s not enough to tell people it’s important — you have to help them do it. This guide offers a set of tools to help people get started and to embrace a heart-healthier way of living,” said the NHLBI’s James Cleeman, M.D., coordinator of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP).

The 80-page easy-to-read booklet is based on the NCEP’s guidelines on cholesterol management. These guidelines emphasize the importance of therapeutic lifestyle changes (TLC) — intensive use of heart-healthy eating, physical activity, and weight control — for cholesterol management. TLC is the cornerstone of treatment, according to Cleeman, even if someone also has to take a cholesterol-lowering medication.

As the booklet explains, following a TLC diet means reducing saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol in order to lower LDL, the “bad” cholesterol. How do you know how low your LDL cholesterol should be? Your goal LDL level is determined by your risk for developing heart disease or having a heart attack. To help you determine your risk, the new guide includes the NCEP 10-year coronary heart disease risk calculator. Once your LDL goal is determined, you and your doctor can use the new booklet to implement TLC and reach your goal.

To help reduce saturated fat, trans fat, and dietary cholesterol, the guide offers tips on choosing and preparing low fat meals, selecting healthy snacks, reading nutrition labels, and dining out while staying on the TLC diet. The booklet includes sample menus for different types of cuisine (traditional American, Southern, Mexican-American, and Asian).

The LDL-lowering power of the TLC diet can be boosted by adding soluble fiber and plant stanols and sterols, substances derived from plants that help block cholesterol absorption. The guide suggests ways to add fiber to the diet and discusses the value of plant stanols and sterols and which food products have them.

In addition to what you eat, how much you move is also important for heart health. Lack of physical activity is an important risk factor for heart disease. Inactivity contributes to weight gain and raises LDL as well as lowering HDL, the “good” cholesterol. The booklet offers a step-by-step program to get people moving and includes a chart of calories burned in common activities.

Overweight and obesity increase a person’s LDL level and can also raise triglycerides and lower HDL. To help people lose those extra pounds, the guide includes calorie-cutting strategies, ideas for substituting lower calorie foods for high calorie favorites, and a handy chart of portion sizes based on NHLBI’s Portion Distortion Interactive Quiz. There are also sample menus for TLC at different calorie levels.

A special section of the booklet is devoted to the metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors for heart disease and diabetes that is associated with obesity and overweight. Having one risk factor increases a person’s risk of heart disease, but having several as in metabolic syndrome increases risk even more. The lifestyle changes recommended in the TLC program — especially weight control and physical activity — are the main treatment for metabolic syndrome.

The last chapter of the guide, Learning to Live the TLC Way, offers suggestions for how to make the needed lifestyle changes — and get back on track if you fall off the program. A key strategy is to follow TLC with family and friends. Those closest to you can provide support ‚Äì and help you plan heart healthy meals and physical activities. They can also benefit as the program can help them “prevent” high cholesterol and/or other risk factors.

“TLC is more than a diet. It’s really a change in your way of living to help you stay heart healthy,” said Dr. Cleeman. The new guide is the latest in the NHLBI “Your Guide to Better Health” series. The series provides easy-to-read science-based health information and features compelling testimonials from people about their real-life health issues. Other “Guides” include “Your Guide to Lowering Your Blood Pressure With DASH; Your Guide to a Healthy Heart; Your Guide to Physical Activity and Your Heart; Your Guide to Living Well With Heart Disease; and Your Guide to Healthy Sleep”

To interview Dr. Cleeman about cholesterol, heart disease prevention, and the TLC diet, contact the NHLBI Communications Office at 301-496-4236. For an online version of the new booklet, go to this site. Printed copies are available for $4.00 through the NHLBI website or from the NHLBI Information Center at P.O. Box 30105, Bethesda, MD 20824-0105, or at 301-592-8573 or 240-629-3255 (TTY).

How Low-Income Households Allocate Their Food Budget Relative To The Cost Of The Thrifty Food Plan

According to the Economic Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture, low-income households that participate in the Food Stamp Program can achieve a healthy diet if they use the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) as a guide for their food shopping. Most studies measuring the degree to which low-income households follow the TFP have compared total household food expenditures—for food at home as well as food away from home—to the TFP. The present study looked at total expenditures, but the emphasis is on how low-income households allocate their budget relative to the TFP for food at home. To determine whether some types of households are more likely than others to budget their food purchases in accordance with TFP benchmarks, and to identify households that might benefit most from nutrition education programs, the study compared actual and TFP expenditures for four household categories.
Released Friday, August 25, 2006

See this link for more information.

Legislation

No update this month.

Grants/Awards

Eat Smart, Move More…North Carolina Community Grant Award Recipients for 2006-07 Soon To Be Announced
Check out the hot topics section of the Eat Smart Move More NC website in late September, for more information on the grant recipients visit this the Eat Smart, Move More…NC website.

Training and Professional Development

2006 Healthy Carolinians Conference

Health Disparities – Lessons from the Past, Vision for the Future
October 5-6, 2006

Hilton University Place, Charlotte, NC

The 2006 Healthy Carolinians conference, Health Disparities: Lessons from the Past, A Vision for the Future, provides participants with the opportunity to learn about health disparities in North Carolina and gain practical knowledge for recognizing, addressing and eliminating health disparities in their local community. Successful community-based strategies will be discussed. Participants will be able to learn and improve their skills to respond to health disparities. The Keynote Speaker will be Dr. Gloria WilderBrathwaite, Winner of Oprah Winfrey Show’s Angel Network 2002 “Use Your Life Award”

Who should attend?
This conference welcomes members from Healthy Carolinians partnerships and all professionals, community members, scholars, and people who are interested in learning about eliminating health disparities. Participants from past conferences include representatives of public health, hospitals, health and human service agencies, volunteer groups, community residents, the faith community, elected officials, and community organizations representing minority groups

For more information, please visit this site

5th Annual North Carolina Conference on Aging

“Boomers Turning 60‚ÄîImplications For All of Us”

October 25-27, 2006
Sheraton Imperial Hotel & Convention Center
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

The North Carolina Conference on Aging is a collaborative effort to develop a professional conference to provide educational and networking opportunities for anyone interested in long-term care, vital aging, family issues, work and retirement, leadership, and professional development. Realizing the diverse nature of this task, we have made a deliberate effort to include local, regional and state-level service providers, educators, students, consumers, volunteers, clients, caregivers, policymakers, and administrators.

Approximately 77 million babies were born in the United States during the boom years of 1946 to 1964. This year the oldest in this group will turn 60 and can expect to live to 83. Many will continue well into their 90s. These baby boomers will have the opportunity to redefine the meaning and purpose of their older years. As some of the demands of work and family that have commanded their attention in mid-life recede, boomers will have the potential to become a social resource of unprecedented proportions by actively participating in the life of their communities. This conference is intended to serve as a forum for information exchange among persons from the academic, governmental and service provider communities.

Both the 2006 North Carolina Conference on Aging Preprogram/Registration booklet, as well as the 2006 Sponsor, Exhibitor and Advertiser Package are now available on line at this site.

If you would like a hard copy and haven’t received one by early August, you can request one by emailing: ioa@unc.edu with your complete mailing address, or calling (919)966-9444.) The Preprogram/Registration booklet contains the preliminary conference schedule and a listing of events, as well as a description of all plenary sessions, the registration form, and information on lodging and area attractions. (A listing of workshops, papers and roundtables will be available on the Conference web site later this summer.) If you are interested in attending this year’s conference, be sure to send in your registration form and make your hotel reservation as soon as possible, as we expect space to fill quickly.

The Sponsor, Exhibitor and Advertiser Package contains information about opportunities to showcase your organization, materials and services, as well as the 2006 Application Form. If you are interested in reserving space at the conference, don’t delay - do it today - as space is available on a “first come, first serve” basis, and during each of our past Conferences, the exhibit hall has completely sold out. Please be sure to reserve your hotel room at the same time (see the Preprogram/Registration booklet for details) as we expect space to fill quickly.

For more information contact:
Diane Wurzinger
UNC Institute on Aging
720 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Suite 200
Campus Box #1030
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-1030
Phone: 919-843-2647
Fax: 919-966-0510
Email: diane_wurzinger@unc.edu

Free Professional Continuing Education Credits

The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion is offering free continuing professional credits for dietitians and dietetic technicians for reviewing certain MyPyramid materials on their Web site. See this site for more information.

Nutrition and Physical Activity Teleconferences

Every month, the CDC Division of Nutrition & Physical Activity (DNPA) sponsors a monthly teleconference on a variety of topics, but mostly dealing with nutrition &/or physical activity. The calls are scheduled the 2nd Thursday of each month from 1:30-2:30 p.m. The next call will be held on September 14, 2006. The topic will be Safe Routes to School: An Update on Programs, Practice and How Public Health is Playing a Role. The speaker will be Nancy Pullen, MPH, Program Manager, National Center for Safe Routes to School, Highway Safety Research Center, University of North Carolina. Anyone who would like the handouts or participate in future calls please send an email to NC5ADAY@ncmail.net.

National 5 A Day Teleconferences

Each month, the National 5 A Day Partnership sponsors calls geared toward each State 5 a Day Coordinator. The calls are scheduled the first Tuesday of the month from 1:00 -2:30 p.m. Included below is the tentative schedule for the remainder of 2006.

October 3rd
Evaluation – Translating Research into Practice
TBA

November 7th
Strategic Thinking
TBA

December 5th
National Council of Fruit and Vegetable Nutrition Coordinators — annual update

If you are interested in possibly participating in the calls or receive the handouts, please send an email to nc5aday@ncmail.net.

Commission of Dietetic Registration Trainings

The Commission on Dietetic Registration will be offering certificate of training programs for Registered Dietitians (RD’s) in adult and childhood and adolescent weight management as noted below:

Certificate of Training in Adult Weight Management October 26-28, 2006 - Kansas City, Missouri; December 7-9, 2006 - Plantation, Florida. To obtain a registration form and to view the certificate requirements, timeline, registration deadlines and agenda, visit this site.

Certificate of Training in Childhood and Adolescent Weight Management - October 28-30, 2006 - Kansas City, Missouri. To obtain a registration form and to view the certificate requirements, timeline, registration deadlines and agenda [visit this site]
(http://www.cdrnet.org/wtmgmt/childhood.htm).

Participation is limited. Please reserve you place on or before the registration deadline. Past certificate programs have been filled to capacity several days prior to the registration deadline. CDR strongly recommends that flight arrangements and hotel reservations not be finalized until written registration confirmation is received. The registration fee is $345. Registration includes the home study module, 2 1/2 day onsite workshop and post-test. The adult weight management program is approved for 28 CPE units, and the childhood and adolescent program is approved for 27 CPE units - Level II. Program participants must pass the pre-test to attend the on-site program. All program participants will receive continuing professional education units; however, only those who pass the post-test will receive the certificate. Participants will only be given one opportunity to take the post-test. To register for a certificate of training program by phone, please call CDR at 1/800-877-1600, x 5500.

Getting to the Basics: The Business of Weight Management Programs. The obesity epidemic is threatening the health and wellbeing of millions of Americans. Are you prepared to help reverse the trend?

Online Spanish Course for Health Professionals

September 6 – December 15, 2006

The Office of Continuing Education at the UNC School of Public Health is pleased to offer “Spanish for Health Professionals-Part I”.

The primary focus of this innovative online course is improving oral communication skills and promoting cultural awareness of the Latino immigrant community, so health professionals can better communicate with their patients and clients.

The course covers four units of the specially designed A su salud! Spanish for Health Professionals course materials developed at UNC and published by Yale University Press. Part I covers Units 1a, 1b, 2a, and 2b.

Who should take this course?
The course is designed for intermediate Spanish speakers in the health professions (e.g., physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, social workers, physical therapists, health educators, nutritionists, EMS, etc.).

Objectives

• Improve your Spanish language skills and awareness of Latino culture
• Learn through engaging DVD drama with interactive exercises
• Earn continuing education (CE) credit

What are the course dates?

Two sessions are being offered this year:

Spanish for Health Professionals-Part I:
March 1-June 9, 2006
Application deadline: February 8, 2006
Early-bird discount deadline: February 1, 2006

Spanish for Health Professionals-Part I:
September 6-December 15, 2006
Application deadline: August 16, 2006
Early-bird discount deadline: August 9, 2006

How do I apply?
Complete the following steps by the application deadline:

1. Run the Computer Technical Specifications Check and enter the results on the application form.
2. Enter your responses to the Language Skills Assessment Check on the application form.
3. Pay a $35 non-refundable application fee when submitting the application form.

How much does this course cost?
The fee for this course is $575. (This total includes the $35 non-refundable application fee, but does not include the cost of course materials which must be purchased separately.)

Early-bird discount
If you complete the application process, are accepted into the course, complete the registration form, and pay your course fees by the early-bird discount deadline, you will receive a $100 discount on the course fee. The discounted course fee is $475. (This total includes the $35 non-refundable application fee, but does not include the cost of course materials.)

For more information about the application process and links to the application form, please visit this site for more information.

2006 National Health Promotion Conference

September 12-14, 2006
Hilton Atlanta
255 Courtland Street
Atlanta, Georgia

The 2006 National Health Promotion Conference is the first joint conference presented by CDC’s Coordinating Center for Health Promotion (CoCHP) and its constituent groups: the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD), and the Office of Genomics and Disease Prevention (OGDP). With a conference theme of Innovations in Health Promotion: New Avenues for Collaboration, the conference will provide an unprecedented opportunity to create new partnerships and strengthen existing ones to move forward with a national health promotion and wellness agenda. Visit this site for updates and more information.

Food Safety Education to be Focus of September 2006 Conference

September 27-29, 2006
Denver, Colorado

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and NSF International, a non-profit public health company, invite food safety education professionals to join them at a 3-day conference, Reaching At-Risk Audiences and Today’s Other Food Safety Challenges, in Denver, Colorado, September 27-29, 2006.The conference will provide an excellent opportunity for presenting and sharing projects through plenary, breakout, and poster sessions. Pre-conference workshops will be held on September 25 and 26; post-conference tours on September 29.Also sponsoring the conference: Food and Drug Administration; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; USDA‚Äôs Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service; and NSF/WHO Collaborating Center for Food Safety.

The conference will be organized around five primary themes:

• Food borne Illness Surveillance and Epidemiological Insights
• Food Safety Behavioral and Attitudinal Research
• Social Marketing, Educational Interventions, and Program Research
• Role of Foodservice and Food Industries, and
• New Technologies

Who should attend:

• Public health professionals, medical personnel, and health care providers
• Food safety education professionals, researchers, consultants, and dietitians
• Cooperative Extension, food service, health department, and freelance educators
• Trade and health associations, and consumer groups
• Sanitarians and quality control professionals
• Food safety marketers and communicators
  *
  Science writers, health care journalists, and other media professionals

For more information, please visit this site.

National Prevention Summit: Prevention, Preparedness, and Promotion

October 26 and 27, 2006
Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill
Washington, D.C.

Building on last year’s 3rd National Prevention Summit, the upcoming 2006 National Prevention Summit will focus on disease prevention, health preparedness, and health promotion and will feature innovative programs that are making a difference in communities across the country to build a HealthierUS. These programs are focused on healthy lifestyle choices eating a nutritious diet, being physically active, making healthy choices, and getting preventive screenings to help prevent major health threats and burdens such as obesity, diabetes, asthma, cancer, heart disease, and stroke. One special emphasis this year will be the prevention of childhood overweight and obesity. Another emphasis will be preparing for public health emergencies, such as avian influenza.

To register for the National Prevention Summit, please go to this site.