Experts say communities have important stake in helping combat problem of childhood obesity

                                                                                                   Posted 08/21/2007

Just as it takes a village to raise a child, that same village has a role to be sure its children don’t grow up obese, an Arnold School of Public Health expert suggested Tuesday. 

Speaking at the school’s 2007 Fall Orientation, Dr. Russ Pate, a professor in the Department of Exercise Science, said that family members, schools and other sectors of the community all have an impact on a child’s level of physical activity. 

"The need for physical activity is an established public health message but we must continue to work hard to build an infrastructure for the promotion of physical activity," said Pate, USC's associate vice president for research and health sciences.  

Pate and Erika Kirby, director of the Division of Obesity Prevention and Control at DHEC, were keynote speakers at the morning session of a daylong orientation program. 

Kirby noted that South Carolina currently ranks fourth in the nation in obesity rates.   

She said obesity takes on added significance because it is a leading risk factor for many chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes. 

Kirby said the causes of obesity are many and complex, stemming from the cultural and economic influences that are pervasive in every aspect of our society. 

Dr. Donna Richter, dean of the Arnold School, told the students that public health is a discipline with tremendous depth and breadth.  

She challenged them to immerse themselves through their educational experience in the public health causes that are of interest and concern to them, bearing in mind the multi-layered aspects of the public health mission.  

After the presentations in the auditorium at the Public Health Research Center, the students joined breakout sessions where they were involved in small group discussions led by pairs of Arnold School faculty members.  

Students were assigned to groups with individuals from each of the school's six academic departments in an effort to stimulate interactive and interdisciplinary discussions.

For more information:

South Carolina Obesity Factsheet