2009 Childhood Obesity Conference

This week I attended the Childhood Obesity Conference at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The goal of the conference is to provide information, resources, and networking opportunities to professionals who are currently grappling with the childhood obesity issue within our nation's homes, schools, and health clinics. I was honored to be selected as a speaker in the special breakout session entitled “Making a Difference: The Impact of School & Afterschool Wellness Policies."

I partnered with three AMAZING speakers including Dr. Missy Cody of Georgia State University, Gail Woodward Lopez of the California Department of Education, and Tracy Conkey of the California Dairy Council. I was asked to highlight some of the progress we have made in the San Marcos Unified School District as a result of developing and implementing a Local School Wellness Policy. During the presentation I discussed some of the enhancements we have made in the afterschool snack programs, student involvement via Nutrition Advisory Councils, and the culmination of these efforts in our District wide Wellness Policy Fair.

Following the session I received several comments on the validity and relevance of our presentation given the current economic state. Our programs in San Marcos focus on sustainable efforts through the reliance on student involvement, voulunteerism, and support from community partners which has very little impact on the school district's general fund. Although California is still ranked 48 in the nation in terms of funding for public instruction, the determination of our parents. teachers, and administrators have been able to sustain and improve the educational environment for students. Kudos to our AWESOME teachers in California!

I also had the opportunity to design the posters and exhibit materials for the Action for Healthy Kids booth. I am the Marketing Expert on the California AFHK Executive Committee and I have the fun job of developing pretty posters, newsletters, and consulting on social networking for the committee. I love graphic design and I take advantage of any opportunity to illustrate, conceptualize, or design marketing materials. I designed these two posters in Adobe Photoshop and they came out looking great!

Overall, the conference was a huge success! I had the opportunity to meet the Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell and many other leaders working to reduce childhood obesity in our country. The most influential thing that I will take from this conference is a quote from keynote speaker Dr. Eduardo Sanchez. "It is easier to build healthy children than it is to fix unhealthy adults." Let us not only provide children with the resources and opportunities to become healthy individuals but INSPIRE them to advocate health and wellness to their peers.

Pictures taken with the Canon EOS Rebel T1 i