Obesity Prevention Summit 2013

Last Friday, Call to Action held its first annual Obesity Prevention Summit, generously supported by premier sponsor, Kaiser Permanente. According to the California Health Interview Survey of 2009, approximately 61% of Kern County adults and teenagers are obese, indicating a large need for preventive efforts [1]. This summit addressed the chronic disease with a non-traditional approach and was created for healthcare professionals.

Dr. Han from Kaiser Permanente served as the calm and collected moderator for the event. Dr. Jonah, the Health Officer of Kern County Public Health Services Department, opened the day with a warm welcome. The Keynote Speaker featured Dr. Sandra Witt, who  serves as the Director of Building Healthy Communities for the north region of the California Endowment. Dr. Witt spoke about the importance of the built environment in influencing health behaviors. She emphasized that zip codes are often determinants of health outcomes and described the “Health Happens Here” campaign.

This summit featured a presentation on the Prescriptions for Health Program in the Central Valley. Health Promotion Specialist Tony Gonzalez from Health Net Community Solutions and Collaborative Program Manager Brandi Muro from the Network for a Healthy California highlighted the features of the program. The project involves providers prescribing preventive methods, such as consumption of more fruits and vegetables, rather than traditional methods such as drugs. This was followed by Health & Wellness Lifestyle Manager Sean Kenny from GEMCare, who led an interactive session that showcased simple ways worksites could implement wellness.

 

The afternoon session began with a clip from Weight of the Nation and included a discussion on the best approaches to obesity prevention in the workplace. A panel on best practice models was steered by CEO of Clinica Sierra Vista, Steve Schilling, Greenfield Walking Group member Betty Basulto, and the Honorable Joe Aguirre. Mr. Schilling spoke about the worksite wellness program at his organization. Mrs. Basulto inspired the crowd with her story of how the Greenfield Walking Group came into existence, and Honorable Joe Aguirre illustrated his role in the community garden project in Delano.

The summit was met with enthusiasm and excitement about innovative models unique to the Central Valley. If you missed this year’s summit, be sure to attend the next one!

Source(s):
[1] http://www.kernpublichealth.com/pdfs/cd/CallToActionPlan2010.pdf