The town meeting offers a forum that encourages a diverse citizenry to speak up and share ideas and solutions for the growing epidemic of childhood obesity.
“By having members of the community participate, we have the unique opportunity to hear from people who are dealing with childhood obesity on a first-hand basis, rather than simply relying on research statistics,” said Gary Foster, director of CORE and professor of medicine and public health.
“These town meetings are building a credible voice that will balance the wisdom of crowds against the opinion of experts in determining how our nation might best respond to this critical health challenge our children face,” added David McCarron, executive director of SAY.
The meeting will be broken into two sessions; the first will address the issue of childhood obesity on a national level, and the second will focus on the local area. Both sessions will use advanced polling technology to deliver participants’ recommendations in real-time.
After the meeting, Shaping America’s Youth will use suggestions from the first session to develop a national plan of action that will be presented to families, schools, communities and lawmakers across the country, while a list of recommendations from the second session will be presented to local leaders to raise awareness of the issue.
All residents of the greater Philadelphia area, including Temple students, faculty and staff, are encouraged to attend the free event with their families. Registration is encouraged and can be done at www.shapingamericasyouth.com, or by calling 1-800-SAY-9221.
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