Source: McGill University
http://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/news/?ItemID=22297 It Takes a Society: Fighting Childhood ObesityOctober 18, 2006 The
undisputed pandemic of childhood obesity worldwide threatens to be the major
public health problem of the new century. We have created a modern society
in which the first generation of children of the new millennium could be the
first since the rise of the industrial revolution to have a shorter lifespan
than its predecessors. Dr. Laurette Dubé, internationally respected professor in consumer and
lifestyle psychology and marketing, food and health specialist, and founding
chair and scientific director of the McGill University Integrative Health
Challenge Think Tank, is a passionate proponent of the view that we need to
mobilize individuals, organizations and society on a grand scale to unleash
enough action to affect the tipping point of a healthy lifestyle epidemic. To that end, the McGill Integrative Health Challenge Think Tank: Forging a
Societal Action Plan in Preventing Childhood Obesity Around the World will
be held in Montreal, October 26-27 (opening session 6 p.m., October 25) at
the Mount Royal Centre, 2200 Mansfield, across from the historic McGill
University campus. The think tank is an invitation-only event. Only the
opening and closing sessions will be open to the general media. The think tank will convene leading academics, professionals and decision-
and policy-makers from the domains of health, education, agriculture and
food, leisure and sports, urban planning, media, finance, management, law,
politics and economy to develop a bolder approach to the prevention of
childhood obesity around the world. Participants will forge the draft
version of a societal plan for childhood obesity prevention currently in the
making by the Global Prevention Alliance, a partnership among five
international medical associations that works in close collaboration with
the World Health Organization. The opening keynote speaker will be economist
and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, with a word of welcome by the
Quebec Minister of Health, Philippe Couillard. Participants will address key challenges to be faced if societal action
plans currently being pushed by the health community around the world are to
galvanize action instead of opposition. They will also examine key premises
in society that need to be revisited to reach any critical mass in efforts
to curb obesity, including freewill/personal responsibility for individuals,
persisting in the prescribe/comply model for health organizations, being in
the "business of doing business" for corporations, and operating along the
"health/economic divide" for governments. The conference will conclude with
the launch of the Montreal Call to Challenge "Business as Usual" on
childhood obesity by the Mayor of Montreal, Gérald Tremblay, and the
unveiling of a worldwide e-think tank to solicit ideas, encourage public
feedback and broaden the fight. This event is organized by McGill University in partnership with the Global
Prevention Alliance, the American Heart Association, the Canadian Institutes
for Health Research and other health, philanthropic, agriculture and
economic organizations. More detailed information on the think tank content,
partners and participants is available at www.mcgill.ca/healthchallenge.
Conference Co-chairs: Laurette Dubé, Professor, James McGill Chair in Consumer and Lifestyle
Psychology and Marketing, Desautels Faculty of Management; Founding Chair
and Scientific Director, McGill Health Challenges Think Tank, Canada Philip James, Chair, Global Prevention Alliance; Founder and Chair,
International Obesity Task Force (IOTF), UK
Program Highlights: Opening keynote address: Paul R. Krugman, Professor, Economics and Public Affairs, Economics
Department, Princeton University; Columnist, The New York Times, USAKeynote commentaries offered by: Catherine Le Gales-Camus, Assistant-Director General, Non-communicable
Diseases and Mental Health, WHO, Switzerland Alan Bernstein, President, Canadian Institutes for Health Research,
Canada Robert Eckel, President, American Heart Association, USAConfirmed participants: >From Health: Michel Marmot, Chair, WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health,
UK Jean-Marie Le Guen, Physician and Deputy, Paris, President of the
Study Group, National Assembly, France William Dietz, Director, Nutrition and Physical Activity Program,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA Kaare Norum, Professor Emeritus and Rector Emeritus, Institute for
Nutrition Research, School of Medicine, Oslo University; Former Chair, WHO
Reference Group on "Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health,"
Norway Boyd Swinburn, Professor and Chair, Public Health and Nutrition;
Founder, WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention and Related
Research and Training, Deakin University, Australia Robert Beaglehole, Director, Department of Chronic Diseases and Health
Promotion, WHO, Switzerland Chunming Chen, Professor and Senior Advisor, Chinese Centre for
Disease Control and Prevention; Founding President, Chinese Academy for
Preventive Medicine, China Carlos A. Monteiro, Professor, School of Public Health and Centre for
Epidemiological Research in Health and Nutrition, University of São Paulo,
Brazil Benjamin Caballero, Director, Center for Human Nutrition; Professor,
Johns Hopkins Center for Human Nutrition, USA Thomas N. Robinson, Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine, Stanford
University School of Medicine, USA Adam Drewnowski, Professor, Epidemiology, School of Public Health and
Community Medicine; Director, Center for Public Health Nutrition, University
of Washington, USA>From Economics, Business, Agriculture and Other Disciplines: Daniel Kahneman, 2002 Nobel Laureate, Economic Sciences, USA Kevin Murphy, Economic Sciences, University of Chicago T. S. Srinivasan, Economic Sciences, Yale University Lance Friedman, Senior Vice President, Kraft Foods Inc., USA Wilbert J. Keon, Canadian Senator; President & CEO, University of
Ottawa Heart Institute, Canada William Bernstein, Author of The Birth of Plenty and The Four Pillars
of Investments, USA George Loewenstein, Professor, Economics and Psychology, Department of
Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, USA Brian Wansink, Cornell University; Director, Cornell Food and Brand
Lab, USA David Fidler, International Law, Indiana University Louise Fresco, Former Assistant Director-General, Food and Agriculture
Organization, United Nations; University Professor, Universiteit van
Amsterdam, Netherlands Gary W. Evans, Human Ecology, Departments of Design and Environmental
Analysis and of Human Development, College of Human Ecology, Cornell
University, USA Per Pinstrup-Andersen, Professor, Food Nutrition and Public Policy,
Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University; Former
Director-General, International Food Policy Research Institute, USA Nick Drager, Senior Advisor, Department of Ethics, Trade, Human Rights
and Health Law, WHO, Switzerland John Holland, Author of Emergence: From Chaos to Order, USA David Bornstein, Author of How to Change the World: Social
Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas and The Price of a Dream: The Story
of the Grameen Bank, USA Claude Fischler, Sociologist, Director of Research, National Centre of
Scientific Research, FranceContacts Kathryn Haralambous
Communications Officer
University Relations Office, McGill University
514-398-3095
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