Pediatricians confront the childhood obesity epidemic

Childhood obesity has become a significant health problem worldwide, but many parents don't know where to begin or how to help their child adopt a healthy lifestyle. At the opening session of the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Denver, Colo., experts in pediatric obesity prevention will discuss the science and the strategy behind understanding this epidemic and intervening upon it.

The session at the Colorado Convention Center is from 5 to 6:30 p.m. MT on Saturday, April 30, and will include a special, prerecorded video address by First Lady Michelle Obama discussing her campaign, "Let's Move!"

Shari Barkin, MD, MSHS, will present the keynote address, "Timing is Everything: Childhood Obesity From Physiology to Public Health." Dr. Barkin is Director of Pediatric Obesity Research in the Diabetes Research and Training Center, and Director of General Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Her research focuses on family-based, community-centered clinical interventions to change health behaviors in parent-child dyads.

"By examining the dynamic interaction between a child's external environmental exposures and his internal physiologic responses, scientists, parents, and policy makers can be informed about effectively intervening to change the trajectory of childhood obesity in America." said Dr. Barkin.