Public Health Symposium

• 2002 Symposium Overview
• Program Schedule
• Honoring Eugene Feingold
• Keynote Session
• Concurrent Sessions
  • Biological Markers of Obesity Related Diseases
  • Changes in the Incidence and Prevalence of Obesity: Gathering the Evidence
  • Health Outcomes Related to Obesity
  • The Role of Environment and Policy in Improving Public Health: Reducing Obesity in America
  • Community Initiatives to Promote Healthy Eating and Exercise
  • Novel Approaches to Weight Management: The Role of Psychosocial and Cultural Tailoring
• Readings
• Obesity Links

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2002 Public Health Symposium

Concurrent Sessions: Community Initiatives to Promote Healthy Eating and Exercise

Moderator and Panelist: Edith Kieffer, MPH, PhD
Associate Research Scientist, Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health

Panelists:

• Kelly Baber, MS
  Executive Director, Kettering Butzel Health Initiative Detroit
• Giancarlo Guzman, Southwest Detroit Community Facilitator, REACH Detroit Partnership
• Teretha Hollis-Neely, Project Coordinator, Healthy Eating and Exercise to Reduce Diabetes

Through focus groups and community forums, residents of eastside and southwest Detroit have identified barriers to healthy eating and regular exercise. The physical activity facilities available in neighborhoods, the types of readily accessible food stores and eating establishments and the threat of personal violence in neighborhoods all affect food intake and activity decisions. Through community participatory projects, changes are occurring to decrease the identified barriers. Session participants include community leaders involved in the participatory projects.

Objectives

• Identify barriers to healthy eating and regular exercise, and strategies suggested for reducing them, from the perspectives of residents of the eastside and southwest of Detroit
• Discover several community participatory projects designed to increase healthy eating and exercise, including the REACH Detroit Partnership, Promoting Healthy Lifestyles Among Women, Healthy Eating and Exercise to Reduce Diabetes (HEED) and Healthy Eating in Detroit

Recommended Readings

Participant Profiles

Edith C. Kieffer, MPH, PhD is an Associate Research Scientist in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She conducts community-based research on maternal health and pregnancy outcomes, including birth weight; the prevalence, risk factors and impact of obesity and diabetes during and after pregnancy; diabetes risk perception; and factors influencing diet and physical activity during and after pregnancy. She is Principal Investigator of three community-based research projects in Detroit: Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes among Hispanics (HRSA/MCHB), Promoting Healthy Lifestyles Among Women (NIH/NIDDK and MDCH); and Promoting Healthy Eating in Detroit (MDCH and CDC). Dr. Kieffer is also a co-PI of the Reach Detroit Partnership (CDC). Within these projects, she is working with Detroit community members and organizations to develop and implement practical family and community-based intervention strategies to promote healthy eating and regular exercise, and to reduce the risk of diabetes and its complications among Latino and African-American women and families.

Kelly Baber, MS, is Executive Director of the Kettering Butzel Health Initiative, a community organization located in Butzel Family Center in the eastside of Detroit. KBHI promotes the health needs of community residents, including a strong emphasis on maternal and child health through its Healthy Beginnings program. A Detroit native, Kelly has a MS in Public Administration and a BS in Criminal Justice. She has previously served in a wide variety of positions in Detroit and nearby cities, including community health planner, outreach coordinator, foster care/adoption specialist, social worker and advocate Kelly has been actively involved in planning and implementing Promoting Healthy Lifestyles Among Women, and serves on its Steering Committee as well as that of REACH Detroit, the Eastside Access Project, and many more organizations and projects.

Giancarlo Guzman is the Southwest Detroit Community Facilitator for the REACH Detroit Partnership. He grew up in Detroit and received his BA degree in English from the University of Michigan in 1999. He has previously served as a legislative analyst for the Detroit City Council, and has also worked in several business settings. Giancarlo has been involved in community development activities for several years.

Teretha Hollis-Neely is the Project Coordinator for Healthy Eating and Exercise to Reduce Diabetes or HEED. She has a BA in Family Life Education and an AA degree in Business Administration. Also, a lifelong Detroit resident, Teretha has served as a youth services worker, a volunteer Village Health Worker in Eastside Detroit, a medical attendant, an outreach advocate with the Detroit Health Department, and a parenting assistant with Wayne County youth services.