Educasting Study Guide on Food, Sustainability, and Society
Oversized and Undernourished: The Expanding Epidemic of Childhood Obesity
Introduction: Zenobia Barlow of the Center for Ecoliteracy
Track 1: Program Synopsis
The United States and other developed countries are in the beginning stages of an epidemic that has no vaccine, but is instead spread by habits and norms created through evolving familial and cultural trends, food marketing, and even public policy. Mark Sommer, host of the syndicated radio program, A World of Possibilities, talks with a wide variety of guests examining why our children are growing more obese at increasingly young ages, leading to a variety of health problems that, as one guest puts it, will end in producing the first generation of Americans to have a life expectancy that is lower than their parents. Guests in this program include Dr. Howell Wechsler of the Centers for Disease Control; Miriam Nestle, professor at New York University and bestselling author of books on food marketing and nutrition; Amy Salzman, nutrition columnist for Parents Action for Children; Will Bullock and Sharon Riley of the Boston Food Project; and Dr. Matthew Gilman, a nutrition researcher at Harvard Medical School.
Track 2: Dr. Howell Wechsler
The Centers for Disease Control
Guest Bio:
Howell Wechsler of the Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) at the Centers for Disease Control and has been the division’s nutrition education and prevention specialist. He was also lead author of the Center’s “Guidelines for School Health Programs to Promote Lifelong Healthy Eating”. After entering the public health field following Peace Corps service in Zaire, he directed a community-based health screening program in the New York City metropolitan area ran a Healthy Heart program in New York. He has supervised scientists in such topics as sexual risk behaviors, physical activity, nutrition, tobacco-use prevention, asthma management and food safety.
http://www.activelivingbydesign.org/index.php?id=388
Track 3: Miriam Nestle
Professor at New York University and author of Food Politics and What to Eat
Guest Bio:
Marion Nestle is former chair and professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University. She has a doctorate in molecular biology and a master’s degree in public health nutrition. Her research focuses on the scientific, social, cultural and economic factors that influence the development, implementation and acceptance of federal dietary guidance policies. She is the author of Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health and Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism, and is co-editor of Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Food and Nutrition. Her latest book is What to Eat: An Aisle-by-Aisle Guide to Savvy Food Choices and Good Eating.
http://www.foodpolitics.com
Track 4: Amy Salzman
Nutrition columnist for Parents Action for Children
Guest Bio:
Amy Saltzman is a freelance journalist and was most recently the editor of the Parents' Action for Children website and e-zine. This included her weekly column on issues related to childhood obesity and nutrition.
http://www.parentsaction.org
Track 5: Wilber Bullock and Sharon Reilly
Massachusetts Food Project
Guest Bio:
Wilber Bullock of The Food Project in Lincoln, Massachusetts, is an avid advocate for food access in urban communities and of healthy food choices among young people. At the age of 15, he worked at an urban youth garden, where he learned the real value in growing fresh healthy food, and is now a nationally recognized public speaker focused on raising awareness about the food systems many problems. Classically trained at the New England Conservatory of Music, he incorporates music in his presentations – especially to young people. http://www.foodandsocietyfellows.org/fellows.cfm?id=80357
Sharon Reilly also works for The Food Project in Lexington, Massachusetts, whose mission is to grow a thoughtful and productive community of youth and adults from diverse backgrounds. The goal is to build a sustainable food system, producing healthy food and providing youth leadership opportunities.
www.foodproject.org
Track 6: Dr. Matthew Gilman
Associate professor at Harvard Medical School
Guest Bio:
Matthew Gillman a pediatrics primary care physician, researches early life prevention of adult chronic disease, optimal nutrition for children and adults and clinical epidemiology. He also directs a federally funded study of pregnant women and their offspring, focusing on effects of gestational diet on outcomes of pregnancy and early childhood. He has leadership roles in the American Heart Association, the U.S. National Children's Study and the International Society for Study of the Developmental Origins of Health and Adult Disease. http://www.dfhcc.harvard.edu/membership/member-profile/member/98/0
Closing: Zenobia Barlow