By Staff
Special to the Standard
Tackling the Diabetes and Obesity Epidemic One Piece at a Time, will be the theme of the sixth annual Alabama Diabetes and Obesity Conference, scheduled April 4 to 5 in Taylor Center, Room 230, at Auburn University Montgomery.
Sponsored by the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, the conference is tailored to health professionals, pharmacists, dietitians, social workers and nurses, as well as the general public.
Participants will be updated on Alabama obesity trends, which remain exceedingly grim compared with other states. For example, data compiled by the nonprofit Trust for America's Health shows that Alabama ranks just behind Mississippi as the nation's heaviest state. The data is even grimmer when one considers the close link between obesity and diabetes, a chronic disease that is exacting an increasingly heavy toll on Alabamians of all ages, according to Helen Herndon-Jones, a conference organizer – one reason why the conference has become a major focus of efforts to combat these closely related diseases.
A special focus of this year's conference will be a review of dietary management and healthy cooking. Experts also will review prevention and treatment options for dealing with diabetes-related foot problems.
Other topics will include a discussion of research findings related to dental and obesity trends in Alabama children. Speakers also will explain research findings associated with diabetes intervention and prevention strategies and discuss treatment options for diabetes-related eye diseases.
As always, a heavy emphasis will be placed on the importance of physical activity in reducing the prevalence of diabetes.
Representatives with Auburn University's Harrison School of Pharmacy will be on hand to conduct health screenings.
Keynote speakers will include Dr. Stuart Lockwood, state dental director with the Alabama Department of Public Health; Dr. Jamy Ard, assistant professor at the School of Nutrition at the University of Alabama at Birmingham; Lynn Bright, registered nurse and certified diabetes educator; Cheryl Vasse, MS, regional extension agent, with the Human Nutrition, Diet and Health division of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System; Dr. Perrin Underwood, Montgomery ophthalmologist specializing in diabetes-related eye diseases; Dr. Jose Fernandez, assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition Science at the University of Alabama at Birmingham; Dr. Suresh Mathews, assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at Auburn University; Dr. Robert Judd Boshell, associate professor in the Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine at Auburn University; and Pam Green, MS, RD, CDE, manager of the Center for Diabetes and Nutrition Education with Baptist Health Hospital.
Those interested in attending can register online or by mail. The cost of registration for the full conference is $195. The fees include all educational materials, snacks and meals.
Registration also is possible online at www.aces.edu/diabetesconf/index.
For more information about the event, please contact ne at 867-7760 or Helen Herndon-Jones at (334) 567-6301 or at (334) 201-6775.