Childhood obesity epidemic requires call to action
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Below is an abridged version of “Fighting for our children, not just for ourselves,” a speech that was delivered on April 23 to the Pitt County branch of the NAACP’s Annual Freedom Fund Event at Cornerstone Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville.
The health care reform debate and the passage of the new law has exposed a completely new era of high anxiety and political divisiveness in our country. The principles that are championed or defended by each protagonist are held up as threats to the very foundation of our democracy. At the local level — within the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University and our affiliated hospital, Pitt County Memorial Hospital, we are taking this seriously, as we intend to maintain the highest level of care for the citizens of Pitt County and the region.
The national Center for Disease Control has said, “The United States cannot effectively address escalating health care costs without addressing the problem of chronic diseases.” Any serious policy proposal that aims to improve health care in America and control rising health care expenditures must address chronic disease.
In eastern North Carolina, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has just published comparative health statistics for each state by county. In North Carolina, the two counties with the poorest health statistics are here in the East — Columbus County, No. 100, and Bertie County, No. 99. Tonight, I will focus on our children, our future. We are blessed by having a faculty of dedicated doctors at the Brody School of Medicine, including David Collier, MD, Ph.D., director of Pediatric Healthy Weight Research Treatment Center in the Department of Pediatrics at ECU. He and his colleagues work tirelessly to treat a condition destined to take the lives of our young children — obesity.
The Brody School of Medicine, in partnership with 4-H and the North Carolina Cooperative Extension has sponsored a Take Off 4-Health healthy-lifestyle camp program, which is a three-week camp for obese 12-18 year olds with an average Body Mass Index, called BMI, of 41. Results show a two-thirds success rate.
Cornerstone Missionary Baptist Church has a North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund grant for health screening and lay health counseling for adults in African-American congregations in Pitt County called “Healthy Lives/Healthy Choices.” Drs. Skip Cummings and Collier have served on the steering committee for this very successful program.
This epidemic of obesity in our children is receiving deserved attention at every level. The childhood obesity rates in eastern North Carolina are high with 45 percent exceeding a healthy weight and 30 percent already obese — about twice the national prevalence.
At ECU, the leadership university, we are leading through action and example. We have demonstrated an institutional commitment to creating a university community that values racial and ethnic diversity and is eager to promote social, personal and academic growth. We unlock potential.
Mobilize ourselves to call for change in support of our leaders, employers and health institutions. We need to focus on the chronic diseases that afflict our community. Challenge policymakers on the health policy changes that are necessary to effectively fight diseases that afflict us disproportionately.
We can add education — the academic difference.
The mission of the Brody School of Medicine is a partner with you in the educational process. On the personal note, we can walk and exercise more; make healthy nutritional choices; reduce alcohol intake; quit smoking. Let us each pledge to create a healthier community, state and nation. ...
Advocate for their health at the schools, as schools can be the model environments to promote health. Public policy originates at the grass root level, and is inclusive of informed advocates, business representative and our government leaders working collaboratively together. Let us endeavor to build on prior successes — tobacco legislation is an example.
This then is a call to action, for us all here tonight, for the NAACP, and for our children’s sake. It is not for us, it is for our future.
Dr. Paul R.G. Cunningham is dean of the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University.
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