UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- A youth obesity expert at Penn State's Children's Hospital, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, will give a presentation called "Working With Overweight Children and Their Parents: Tools for Success" on Sept. 22 at the Victoria Inn in Pittston, Pa.

In a lecture, dinner and networking session from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. intended for nurses, teachers, child-care providers, dieticians and dietetic technicians, Ronald J. Williams, an associate professor of medicine and pediatrics, will talk about helping overweight children and their parents manage and respond to the problem of childhood obesity. The event is cosponsored by Penn State Cooperative Extension.

Williams, whose clinical interests are in obesity, cystic fibrosis and inpatient medicine, will focus his presentation on successful techniques for reducing an overweight child's body weight, as well as methods to encourage parental involvement and support in treatment.

"Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States," says Mary Ehret, extension educator in Luzerne County. "In the past 20 years, obesity has increased 54 percent in children ages 6 to 11 years. This dramatic increase in obesity has profound health implications, including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and breathing and heart problems."

Because Pennsylvania schools soon will participate in The Growth Screening Program, which will require school nurses to chart students' heights, weights and calculate their body mass index, Williams' presentation is timely, notes Ehret. "School nurses and other health professionals need to know how to work with families to ensure the future health of Pennsylvania's children," she says.

"As a result of attending this program, participants should be able to identify two successful techniques used to reduce the weight of an overweight child, and to identify one method to encourage parental involvement and support in treatment."

The deadline to register is Sept. 10. The $25 fee covers the presentation and dinner. To register, contact the Monroe County Office of Penn State Cooperative Extension at 570-421-6430, 724 Phillips St., Suite 201, Stroudsburg, Pa. 18360, or download the brochure found on the Web at http://monroe.extension.psu.edu (follow the link for "NEWSLETTERS and PROGRAM REGISTRATIONS").

Those attending the program can earn continuing education credit. Two Act 48 Continuing Education Units will be granted to family and consumer science teachers, school nurses and other eligible professionals who attend the presentation in its entirety. Two contact hours of Continuing Education Units have been approved for registered dieticians. Two Department of Public Welfare credits will be granted to child-care providers.

In addition to Penn State Cooperative Extension, the presentation is cosponsored by Luzerne County Head Start, Northeast Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center and Pennsylvania Department of Health, Northeast District.

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Writer/Editor: Jeff Mulhollem Office 814-863-2719 FAX 814-863-9877