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Organizing Hispanics and Searching for Partners
September 11, 2006
To: Jon Garrido, Hispanic News Diabetes Center From: Mark Gottlieb, J.D., Executive Director, The Public Health Advocacy Institute
Considering the telephone conversation we had, our annual conference will provide a forum for you to introduce yourself and your mission. The PHAI Conference will host some of the most prominent attorneys involved in the tobacco lawsuits and now the same attorneys are forging forward to undertake the struggle with obesity.
You are cordially invited to attend our conference for I believe it will be a fruitful experience in gaining allies in fighting the causes of obesity in Hispanics.
The Public Health Advocacy Institute Boston, Massachusetts
Our population's health is a national asset. It deserves the highest level of protection. The Public Health Advocacy Institute is dedicated to protecting the health of the public. Our goal is to support and enhance public health understanding and commitment among law teachers and students, legislators and regulators, the courts, and others who shape public policy through the law. To that end we have built a strategic alliance of lawyers and public health professionals.
In 2001, members of the faculty at Northeastern University School of Law and members of the faculty at the Department of Public Health and Family Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine met and decided to found the Public Health Advocacy Institute as an independent organization working in public health and law. The Public Health Advocacy Institute receives support from the following organizations:
American Legacy Foundation The Public Health Advocacy Institute is an interdisciplinary project created with three goals: To promote the law in common cause with public health; To provide research and education pertaining to public health, public health law, and the public health implications of legal decisions; and To advocate for public awareness and understanding of the impact of legal decisions upon public health and the importance of public health to law. The Public Health Advocacy Institute Annual Conference
Targeting Kids: The Food Industry and
Children's Diets Marion Nestle, Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, will be joining our conference again this year to deliver the keynote address on Saturday. Dr. Nestle is the author of What to Eat (published in May of this year), Food Politics, and Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism. Additional Confirmed Speakers: Lori Dorfman, Director, Berkeley Media Studies Group Tentative Agenda
Friday, November 3 Reception
Saturday, November 4 Keynote by Marion Nestle Year in Review Children's Diets and Public Health This introductory panel will provide a foundation for understanding the obesity epidemic and a basis for conference discussion. Topics to be addressed include the science of obesity, epidemiological issues, nutrition, and an analysis of what children eat and why. The School Food Environment The school food environment is a key point affecting children's diets. This panel will discuss how law affects what children eat in school. It will also discuss the challenges and opportunities for legal strategies to effect change in the school food environment. The following will be discussed: school contracting, the National School Lunch Program, wellness policies, and state/local regulation. The panel will also explore the difficulties in translating legal/policy scholarship into action. Incorporating Race and Class into Obesity Control Strategies Families with limited financial resources have less access to healthy, affordable food or safe places to exercise, and cash-strapped school districts often find it difficult to improve the foods they serve. Does industry behavior contribute to the burden of overweight and obesity among the poor and communities of color? Does the industry target these populations with predatory marketing practices? This discussion will examine these issues and explore how legal approaches to obesity can address them. The panel will also discuss a strategic vision of obesity control that ensures that legal solutions address the needs of all populations. The "Choice" Mantra: Industry and the Rhetoric of Personal Responsibility The food industry stresses that consumers, including children, can exercise personal choice as to what foods they buy and consume and that external rules should not constrain this "freedom of choice." But what kind of choice do consumers really have? In a marketing, advertising and messaging environment controlled by corporate sellers, are objective personal choices for healthier consumables possible? How deeply are prospective buyers/users conditioned in favor of certain products and types of products? How do marketers exploit consumer predisposition to enhance sales? How has this rhetoric influenced policy and blocked effective reform? Finally, how can the "choice" rhetoric be effectively countered? Industry Marketing: Subverting Children's Health From the Institute of Medicine report on marketing to the recent Kaiser report on advergaming, it is clear that marketing affects children's behavior. Marketing techniques and media continue to evolve at a rapid pace with new developments appearing almost daily: the move from analog to digital television, advergaming, e-commerce, t-commerce, viral marketing, product placement, text messaging, ringtones, etc. Legal systems from commercial speech doctrines to the regulation of media and marketing are woefully inadequate to address the changes in advertising and media. This group will explore legal doctrines related to marketing and will move beyond concepts of advertising limited merely to television, billboards, and magazine ads. The panel will also examine opportunities for public health and regulation in the age of digital communication, the internet and the nearly-eroded distinctions among media venues. Changes in marketing and media present an opportunity for obesity control advocates. Where Do We Go From Here?: The Future of Legal Approaches to Obesity Control This Sunday session is an extension of the dialogue begun on Saturday. Given the current political climate, legal environment, and social conditions, what is the best way to move forward? Is the recent ABA-Clinton agreement is a hindrance or a help to effective legislation and litigation strategies? Was it actually made possible by industry fears that without it companies would face obesity-related litigation? The panel will discuss recent legislative developments, provide an update on obesity-related litigation, and brainstorm about future legal strategies and targets.
August 7, 2006
Albany, New York
Dear Reader: There is a diabetes crisis of national proportions facing the United States. The Hispanic-American community is particularly hard hit by this disease. The magnitude of the problem in the U.S. has even made headlines in England. The problem is that our diet (specifically the Mexican-American diet) is rich in fats. This situation is complicated by the Anglo-American diet which is equally rich in fats. Such fatty diets may be appropriate for people in very cold harsh climates, they are deadly for people in warmer regions.
Diabetes
can lead to many other serious health problems such as kidney failure,
stroke, neurological problems, blindness. This is not a disease to be
taken lightly. It is a major calamity in the U.S.
Diet is
to some extent the product of economic class. Sociologists have proven
that people in the lower classes are more likely to eat a fat rich
diet. Examine the movie stars. Do they eat these fat rich diets? No!
Perish the thought. They utilize a diet rich in fish, vegetables and
fruits. These upper elites shy away from coke and drink fruit juices
instead. What would vecinos think if they knew this! Our
diets need to be replaced by a Mediterranean or Asiatic style diet, both
of which can be very tasty after you acquire a habit for them.
Food is
an addiction which must be overcome, just like cigarettes and cocaine.
Find an outlet that you can share with family, or friends, such as a
hobby, which can replace food.
Join
me, Jon Garrido and Hispanic News in helping to break the
onslaught of this deadly disease. Don't depend on the major news media
for news of any substance. The Hispanic News Diabetes Center
can provide you with the health information you need for your family.
Spread
the word about diabetes. You can play a role by discussing the matter
with your neighbors. Join the vecinos in asking/insisting that
the school system provide healthier meals at school. Nutrition courses
should be mandatory. People must learn how to eat just as we
learn about every other human activity.
Ask/insist that the school system provide students with more physical
activities after school, during weekends and the summer. The public
schools are community centers and should be used as such. Does it cost
too much? Perhaps state government needs to prioritize. Less money on
the border and more for the home front is just what the doctor ordered.
Utilize the internet for more information on the prevention of diabetes
and its care.
Dr. Salvador Rivera, Ph.D
Professor of History and Sociology
State University of New York
August 5, 2006
Hola Jon, I am the Vice-Chair of the Nevada Hispanic Democratic Caucus.
Our NHDC Secretary's Papa died recently because of diabetes, he was Mexican American, and was a US Vet.
Yes, Minority Democratic Leader US Senator Harry Reid is our great Nv. Senator Harry. I am also honored to be the Secretary of the Nevada Native American Democratic Caucus, which Diabetes is ramped.
Until I became disabled, I was a Certified Medical Assistant/Cardio Tech., so I know about this disease.
Please send me any information on Diabetes in our Hispanics Communities. We will be having our 3rd Annual NHDC Fundraiser Reception later this month. I will send you an email notice of this event. Hope you will be able to attend. Again, thank you for your passion and hard work.
Bendiciones, Estella Morales, Vice-Chair of the Nevada Hispanic Democratic Caucus
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