MEDIA ADVISORY
WHAT:
Nationwide Childrens Hospitals Full Potential Pediatric Obesity Initiative
An update to: Facts About Growing Up Healthy in Franklin County: 2008 Collaborative Childrens Health Report
WHEN:
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
12 p.m. media opportunity
WHERE:
The Hilton Columbus
Easton Town Center
3900 Chagrin Dr.
Columbus, OH 43219
*Media: Once inside the Hilton at Easton, please follow signs to our event location, or call Mary Ellen Peacock at (614) 937-7316
WHO:
-Erica Palmore, 10, F.A.N. Club participant at Livingston Elementary and her family members
-Dr. Gene Harris, superintendent, Columbus City Schools
-Doug Wolf, certified athletic trainer with Nationwide Childrens Hospital Fitness and Nutrition Club (F.A.N. Club)
-Abigail Wexner, board chair, Nationwide Childrens Hospital
-Steve Allen, MD, chief executive officer, Nationwide Childrens Hospital
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
In May 2008, Nationwide Childrens Hospital began a community-wide conversation about the state of pediatric health. Summarizing data from 10 leading health indicators, the hospital and its 20 community collaborators provided the first report on the current state of child health in central Ohio Full Potential. The most prominent among those threats for future health complications of our children was childhood obesity.
During a noon luncheon Wednesday at the Hilton at Easton, Nationwide Childrens will unveil an updated report highlighting strategies within the community to reduce the incidence of childhood obesity.
One of the more notable programs the hospital launched over the past year was the Fitness and Nutrition Club (F.A.N. Club) with Columbus City Schools a 30-week after school program, targeting third through fifth graders, teaching the importance of making healthy decisions about nutrition and physical activity. To put a face to it, one of the student participants, Erica Palmore, 10, of Livingston Elementary School, moved from the clinically obese to the overweight category for her age group by physical activity in the F.A.N. Club and by eating right at home with her family. By March 2009, 20 students from Livingston and Lincoln Park Elementary Schools (out of a total of 54 participants) had improved their overall fitness and decreased their BMI.
-30-
CONTACT:
Mary Ellen Peacock
Nationwide Childrens Hospital
Marketing and Public Relations
(614) 355-0495
Cell: (614) 937-7316
Media Advisory: Nationwide Childrens Hospitals Full Potential Pediatric Obesity Initiative Luncheon Wednesday
April 1, 2009
About Nationwide Children's Hospital
Named to the Top 10 Honor Roll on U.S. News & World Report’s 2023-24 list of “Best Children’s Hospitals,” Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of America’s largest not-for-profit free-standing pediatric health care systems providing unique expertise in pediatric population health, behavioral health, genomics and health equity as the next frontiers in pediatric medicine, leading to best outcomes for the health of the whole child. Integrated clinical and research programs, as well as prioritizing quality and safety, are part of what allows Nationwide Children’s to advance its unique model of care. Nationwide Children’s has a staff of more than 14,000 that provides state-of-the-art wellness, preventive and rehabilitative care and diagnostic treatment during more than 1.7 million patient visits annually. As home to the Department of Pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children’s physicians train the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric specialists. The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of the Top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded free-standing pediatric research facilities. More information is available at NationwideChildrens.org.