Gurung, UW-Green Bay lead autumn conference on childhood obesity

A critical public health issue took center stage in our area recently as UW-Green Bay and other institutions sponsored The Childhood Obesity Conference: Integrating Innovative Strategies to Help Tackle the Epidemic.

Nearly 200 local professionals attended the conference, a daylong event held Sept. 29 at The Meadows Conference Center in Green Bay. It provided attendees the latest information on childhood obesity, along with recommendations for encouraging and supporting healthy lifestyles in our communities and beyond.

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UW-Green Bay Prof. Regan Gurung was among the featured speakers at the event, presenting on the “LIVE54218’ campaign, which focuses on encouraging healthy behaviors around eating and physical activity. Each number in the ‘54218’ sequence — designed to be the “healthiest ZIP code in America” — represents a numerical prescription for better health (for instance, eating five fruits and vegetables daily.

Gurung, a professor of Human Development who earned the UW System Board of Regents’ 2011 Teaching Excellence Award, has received numerous grants for his health and social psychological research on cultural differences in stress, social support, smoking cessation, body image and impression formation. He has published articles in a variety of scholarly journals and has presented nationally and internationally.

The Childhood Obesity Conference’s keynote speaker was Dr. Marilyn S. (Susie) Nanney, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. Her address was titled ‘Childhood Obesity Prevention: Research, Practice and Policy.’ Jordan Bingham, the Healthy Communities Coordinator for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, presented on ‘Building a Statewide Movement for Obesity Prevention.’

– Photos by Dan Moore, Outreach and Adult Access