Wake to Host Acting U.S. Surgeon General March 28

3/26/2008

Wake County Human Services staff will meet with acting U.S. Surgeon General Rear Admiral Steven K. Galson, M.D., M.P.H., on Friday, March 28, 2008, at Barwell Community Center, 3935 Barwell Road, Raleigh.

The acting Surgeon General will be in Wake County to promote the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Childhood Overweight and Obesity Prevention Initiative, "Healthy Youth for a Healthy Future." Dr. Galson will meet with County health officials, as well as leadership and students from Barwell Elementary School and take part in a trail walk.

Members of the media are invited to join Galson, Wake County Community Health Director Gibbie Harris, and students for the trail walk from 2:30 to 3:15 p.m. Time is allotted for media interviews before and during the trail walk.

To date, more than 12.5 million children and adolescents ages 2 to 19 years are overweight in the U.S. As they grow older, overweight children and adolescents are more likely to have risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease such as high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes. In order to effectively address this growing crisis, it is crucial to coordinate a national approach to leverage existing efforts in order to reverse this alarming trend.

North Carolina is the third state he will visit to promote the "Healthy Youth for a Healthy Future" initiative.

Additional information on the Surgeon General’s Initiative can be found at: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/obesityprevention.html.

 

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