The Conference
This is the third annual childhood obesity and public health conference to be held
at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center. Childhood obesity is fast becoming
the greatest public health challenge facing America. Indeed, the First Lady, Michelle
Obama recently began an aggressive national campaign to solve the epidemic of
childhood obesity within a generation.

There are many potential public health approaches to reducing the prevalence of childhood obesity. However, most have not been properly evaluated, and very few have been shown to be effective. This public health conference will bring together local, national and international experts on the topic of developing public health strategies that can be employed to tackle the growing problem of childhood obesity,
with a special focus on the State of Louisiana.

Learning Objectives
The participants in this conference will be able to:

• comprehend the extent of the problem of childhood obesity in both the nation and in the State of Louisiana
• identify key targets for prevention that can be addressed through public health measures
• learn the importance of evaluation in designing and implementing childhood
  obesity programs
• learn the common pitfalls associated with evaluating interventions
• understand how to assess the success of interventions and programs at reducing childhood obesity

Who Should Attend?
This conference is designed for professionals engaged in public health efforts,
including: physicians, nutritionists, physical activity specialists, registered dietitians,
nurses, health educators, psychologists, and counselors; healthcare policy makers,
researchers, media, business and civic leaders, parks and recreation personnel, and early childhood and school-age educators and decision-makers.