CDC to Host “Weight of the Nation” Conference

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has scheduled a conference for public policymakers, health leaders and others to consider “progress in the prevention and control of obesity through policy and environmental strategies.” The inaugural “Weight of the Nation Conference” will be held July 27-29, 2009, in Washington, D.C.; an interactive discussion format for speakers and participants has been planned. CDC will use information developed for and during the conference to produce its “National Road Map for Obesity Prevention and Control” guidelines.

Among those who have been invited to speak are Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), and Representatives James Oberstar (D-Minn.) and Zack Wamp (R-Tenn.). Other speakers include Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Food Center for Policy and Obesity at Yale University, and Margo Wootan, director of Nutrition Policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. School nutrition, federal legislation, the economics of obesity, using social marketing to reduce adolescent obesity, local policy initiatives, and informing consumers about menu ingredients are among the topics that will be addressed. Physical activity breaks have been planned throughout the three-day conference.