Starting Thursday, professors, public officials and nationally recognized commentators will discuss soaring obesity rates in the United States and ways to combat widening waistbands at the 11th-annual Siciliano Forum.
The Forum will kick off at noon in the Utah Museum of Fine Arts Auditorium with a keynote address from former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher titled “Revisiting a Call to Action on Obesity.”
In 2001, Satcher issued a call to action to prevent and decrease obesity. In his lecture Thursday, Satcher will discuss how obesity in the United States has changed since 2001.
Following Satcher’s lecture, there will be a panel discussion and two-day research summit geared toward educating professionals on the current state of obesity. The summit will be held in the Fort Douglas Officer’s Club on Fort Douglas Blvd.
“This conference is hoping to bring scholars together who may not be talking with one another to create an understanding of obesity and solutions based on healthy lifestyles instead of just telling people to lose weight,” said Norman Waitzman, an economics professor at the U and an organizer of the summit.
The summit will focus on obesity trends and disparities in the United States and Utah, assessing implications to public health. Also, presenters will discuss the contributions of genetics, behavior and environment to the obesity epidemic. To close, the summit will address policy and intervention goals and barriers in implementing effective solutions.
According to the Utah Department of Health, in 2005, 55 percent of Utah adults were considered overweight or obese according to the body mass index (BMI) scale.
“The current state of things is that the United States and Utah are getting more and more obese every year,” said Michael Friedrichs, chronic disease epidemiologist for the Utah Department of Health. “Utah is a few years behind the rest of the nation in obesity rates, but we’re still getting fatter.”
In this meeting of the minds, the research summit is bringing together geneticists, schools, professionals and doctors in an attempt to find creative solutions for introducing healthy lifestyles to the public, Waitzman said.
Steven Hunt, a professor in the cardiovascular division of the College of Health, said there are very few obesity syndromes where one gene plays as a factor for obesity. He said that some genes do have an effect, but the influence is minimal. For individuals with the FTO genotype, there is an extra seven pounds of weight automatically added to their bodies.
“I think it’s good for people to realize if obesity is in the family,” Hunt said. “It’s important for people to realize that if they’re genetically predefined for obesity, there’s more of a need to encourage better eating habits and exercise.”
Thursday morning there will be a Gold Medal Mile walk beginning at 11 a.m. starting at the University Guest House and ending at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.