4
Project takes aim at corn-chip commandoes
(Continued from page I)
man-made hall of health hazards begins
in infancy "when it is exposed to feeding
excesses unwittingly imposed upon it by
poorly informed parents."
Doing something about it
A trim, well-conditioned man who
preaches what he practices, DeMaria
doesn't stand around bemoaning the tide
of battle.
He's trying to do something about
personal health maintenance — and some
school-age youngsters and their parents
in Cabarrus County are being enlisted for
duty.
DeMaria is the mainspring behind a
project called Health and Education
United, HEED for short, that's being
developed and field-tested in 12 Cabarrus
County classrooms. The pilot project
involves 312 second-graders.
Simply stated ground objective
The grand objective for HEED,
DeMaria explained, can be summed up in
a short phrase: disease prevention.
For example, DeMaria said, many
health experts believe diseases such as
high blood pressure, the "silent killer"
that affects an estimated 35 million
Americans, are linked to overweight and
high salt intake.
"Eighty million Americans are
overweight and consume an average of
ten pounds of salt a year, far above any
reasonable natural need," DeMaria said.
One of the things HEED is trying to do,
he added, is educate youngsters — for
some physicians believe predisposition to
high blood pressure begins in childhood
— to maintain normal weight and shy
away from salty foods, both processed
and those prepared at home.
Helping them help themselves
HEED will seek to turn youngsters into
their own health advocates by teaching
them the fundamentals of disease
prevention and maintenance of their
physical and mental health, DeMaria said.
To do that, the 312 second-graders at
Allen Elementary in Cabarrus County,
Coltrane-Webb and Cabarrus Academy
in Concord and Charles B. Aycock in
Kannapolis will be testing teaching
materials for the project beginning next
month.
Eventually, DeMaria said, he and
others involved in HEED hope it will
become a sequential program that can
follow a child from kindergarten through
high school.
The project was commended by the
1977 General Assembly and is receiving
some assistance from the state
Department of Public Instruction.
Primary support, however, is from a
$219,000 federal grant and $35,000 from
Cannon Mill^ in Kannapolis.
Curriculum based on health knowledge
A 31-year-old doctoral candidate in
educational administration at Duke, Gail
Latham, directs HEED fulltime from an
office in Cabarrus County.
She works with occasional advice from
Dr. Robert Pitillo, a Duke professor of
education who sees HEED "as a true
opportunity to develop a curriculum
based on health knowledge and combine
it with people who know something
about children and the learning process."
Petillo also was the catalyst who
brought DeMaria and Cabarrus County
school officials together when the
physician was seeking a site for pilot work
on HEED.
Cartoon characters featured
Latham said teaching materials for
HEED will draw on a stable of cartoon
characters in film strips and other media.
Among the characters are "Greebees,"
green meanies that wreck teeth with
gleeful abandon and Hootee the owl, a
good guy who's the one continuing
character in the whole program.
HEED subjects will be taught by
regular classroom teachers, not health
professionals, Latham said. In an effort to
Review course set for EEC techs
Some 75 electroencephalogram (EEG)
technicians are expected for a five-day
review course to be held here beginning
tomorrow.
The course will be conducted by faculty
and staff members from Duke and the VA
Hospital and four guest faculty members
— Dr. Mary Andriola, associate professor
of neurology. University of Florida
College of Medicine; Dr. H. F. Flanigin Jr.,
associate professor of neurosurgery.
University of Arkansas Medical Center;
Dr. Hooshang Hooshmand, Neurological
Associates, Vero Beach, Fla.; and Dr.
Edward L. Reilly, associate professor of
psychiatry. University of Texas Medical
School in Houston.
Lecture topics will include "EEG in
Psychiatry," "Pediatric EEG," "EEG in
Head Injury, Vascular Disease, Tumors"
and "EEG in Infectious Diseases, Toxic
and Metabolic Disorders, Coma, Cerebral
Death."
The course is sponsored by the Division
of Clinical Neurophysiology in the
Department of Psychiatry. Meetings will
be held in the AUied Health Building at
the VA Hospital.
involve parents, some teaching materials
will be sent home with youngsters for
joint study.
"We want to influence the lifestyle of
the children — and their parents," she
added.
Such influence can be achieved by
bringing parents and children together in
activities that teach both of them the
dangers of improper diet, dental neglect
and other facets of HEED, she said.
Four major areas
"We're stressing four major areas in the
pilot program," Latham said, "nutrition,
safety, common diseases and 'The
Wonder of Me,' which deals with the
uniqueness of each person in attaining a
healthy, productive life."
Once HEED reaches full flower, every
child by age 14 should have a good
understanding of his or her body and the
motivation to prevent disease and
maintain health, DeMaria said.
He described the U.S. health care
system as "a beautiful curative system,"
but one woefully deficient in preventive
and health maintenance programs.
"Disease prevention can't be reached by
changing the health care delivery
system," DeMaria said. "It can best be
achieved when each citizen assumes
increased responsibility for his own
health."
The pediatrician noted that prevention,
by far the best method of dealing with
disease, could make a big dent in the
nation's medical bill, which stood at $146
billion in 1976.
"I'm not sure we can afford to be
without it," he said.
AUXIUARY SAYS THANKS - Laura Teston (foreground) obviously thinks her
certificate is worth the hours she worked to earn it. She and other junior volunteers,
including Amy Gentry fleft) and Vickie Smith were honored recently by the Hospital
Auxiliary at a dinner in the Magnolia Room on East Campus. Smith placed third ia
number of hours worked (304). Robin McNeil worked 378 and Rosalyn Massey worked
332. Five other junior volunteers contributed more than 200 hours of their summer
vacations. They are Karen Webster, Beth Strand, Annetta Pool, Pamela McNeil and
Sonya Fletcher. (Photo by Parker Herring)
7 3i 15
^ to S 22 ,J *3 /, 7 ‘S 16
‘ ‘7 It " ^ Jo '• , ” ” 'J
=7 « « >J
Jo
IntKt tT IS — During last year's Davison Club Weekend, several members who also are
graduates of the School of Medicine looked back at their composite class photographs. There will
be time for nostalgia along with a full weekend of activities for Davison Club members beginning
this evening. For the story, see page 1. (Photo by john BcclonI
Sept. 22-29, 1978
The Medical Center Calendar lists lectures, symposia and other activities of interest to faculty, staff and
students. Notices should be sent to Box 3354 no later than one week prior to publication. If last minute
scheduling makes it impossible to send a written notice in time, please call 684-4148.
Friday, Sept. 22
1 p.m. Network for Continuing Medical Education (NCME). Program on
"Abnormalities of Ovulation; Reaching Diagnosis." View in Rm M406 at
Duke and Rms D3008, C6002 and C7002 and BIdg 16 at the VA Hospital.
(Previous NCME programs have been catalogued in the Medical Center
Library and are available for viewing there.)
Monday, Sept. 25
12 noon Pathology Research Conference, Dr. Frances K. Widmann, associate
professor, "Lewis Blood Group — Clinically Significant?" Rm M204,
Wednesday, Sept. 27
1 p.m. NCME. See Fri., Sept. 22, for program and viewing areas.
Thursday, Sept. 28
12:30 p.m. Microbiology and Immunology Seminar. Dr. Marshall Edgell, associate
professor of bacteriology. University of North Carolina, "Eucaryotic Gene
Organization — The Globins," Rm 143, Jones BIdg.