La. gets a ‘D’ in childhood obesity

A new report from Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge reveals that 36% of Louisiana children ages 10-17 are overweight, and assigns an overall grade of D based on the prevalence of obesity and insufficient exercise programs for young people.

The study, Louisiana’s Report Card on Physical Activity and Health for Children and Youth, will be the focus of the center’s conference starting Wednesday in Baton Rouge to examine solutions to childhood obesity and diabetes. The report is available for free online: http://www.pbrc.edu/report_card/

Interestingly enough, while the Louisiana Council on Obesity Prevention and Management is the conference’s lead sponsor, according to an article in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. was a contributing sponsor and McDonald’s was an in-kind sponsor for the week’s conference.

Both Ariane Rung, PhD, LSU School of Public Health, and Melinda Sothern, PhD, LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, were on the Report Card’s Advisory Committee.

More information on the Report from the Times-Picayune:
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base//news-6/122214745657990.xml&coll=1