Last modified: Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Media Advisory: Public health expert available to comment on childhood obesity report
EDITORS: The Institute of Medicine is releasing the national report, "Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity: How Do We Measure Up," on Wednesday (Sept. 13) from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. EDT. Lloyd Kolbe, a professor of applied health science at Indiana University Bloomington, is an internationally known expert on adolescent health and childhood obesity and will be available on the same day to comment about the report. He was one of the co-authors of the IOM report on "Food Marketing to Children and Youth." He also is a member of the Global Think Tank on the Obesity Pandemic. Kolbe will be available for comment on Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. EDT. He can be reached at 812-856-6781 and lkolbe@indiana.edu.
"Today's children simply will live sicker and die younger than their parents unless we reduce childhood obesity rates in the United States," said public health expert Lloyd Kolbe, a professor in Indiana University Bloomington's Department of Applied Health Science. "The state of Americans' waistlines affects not only the quality of their lives but their wallets as well, given the increasing costs of health insurance, goods and services, taxes and bankruptcies that directly result from increasing obesity rates -- obesity that now usually starts during childhood." Kolbe was the founding director of the Division of Adolescent and School Health at the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before coming to IUB in 2003. He was one of the co-authors of the Institute of Medicine report on "Food Marketing to Children and Youth," issued earlier this year. He also is a member of the Global Think Tank on the Obesity Pandemic, which will convene in Montreal on Oct. 24 to 27 to prepare a report on national and international strategies. Kolbe will be available to comment about the IOM's childhood obesity report on Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. EDT. He can be reached at 812-856-6781 and lkolbe@indiana.edu.
To listen to a live audio webcast of the report briefing, which will begin at 1 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, visit https://national-academies.org.
