Health & Wellness
Healthbeat
Brenner joins Together for Kids
Brenner Children's Hospital has joined a new non
profit organization that will raise funds nationally to
help member hospitals cope with dramatic increases in
the health needs of children
"America's children ate facing increasing chal
lenges to their health and well-being? challenges that
include the growing numbers of uninsured kids, the
steadily climbing statistics on childhood obesity and the
staggering toll of preventable injuries," said Lori Brown,
administrator and vice president of Brenner Children's
Hospital. 'Together for Kids has been formed to rally
more resources to make America's kids healthier and
safer."
Together for Kids consists of 34 children's hospitals
and hospital systems, representing 53 individual facili
ties serving children in 47 US. cities. The network
includes major university teaching hospitals, pediatric
departments within hospitals, and children's hospitals in
communities of all sizes. The alliance also includes the
20 Shriners Hospitals for Children across the country
that provide specialty medical care to children with
orthopedic conditions, bums, spinal cord injuries, and
cleft lip and palate, all at no charge.
Together for Kids, a tax-exempt 501(cX3) public
charity, will raise funds through corporate sponsorship,
events, grants and other forms of philanthropy, distribut
ing the funds to member hospitals to address the most
urgent children's health needs in their communities.
Together For Kids will target injury prevention and
obesity as priorities. Brenner Children's Hospital hous
es the area's only pediatric emergency department and
trauma center. In addition, the children's hospital has
recently hired a national obesity expert to help form a
pediatric obesity program.
In April 2008. Together for Kids will launch its first
annual national fundraising campaign, Come Out to
Hay!? a month-long series of events around the coun
try to raise funds for hospitalized children and to encour
age kids and families to take part in active play that's
healthy and safe.
Quitline ringing off the hook
On die annual day that challenges smokers nation
wide to quit. North Carolina saw its own successes as
hundreds of 18- to 24-year-old smokers have taken steps
to kick the habit. A record number of calls to
QuitlineNC, following the launch of the state's first-ever
QuitlineNC media campaign, proved that young smok
ers in North Carolina did not wait until last week's Great
American Smokeout to make their commitment to good
health. )
Funded by the NC Health and Wellness Trust Fund
(HWTF), the "Call It Quits" campaign is working to
reduce the number of young smokers in North Carolina.
Smoking prevalence among
young adults is the highest of
any age group in the state.
According to the CDC, nearly
28 percent of 18- to 24-year
olds in North Carolina smoke -
and more than half have tried to
quit in the past year.
Just two months into the
"Call It Quits" multi-media
advertising campaign to pro
mote Quitline NC to 18- to _!4- ttnbu IP
year olds. 455 young adult
smokers have already registered
for the free phone service to create their own plan for
quitting tobacco. This represents a monthly average of
228 young adult registrants compared to a monthly aver
age of only 34 across the six months preceding the cam
paign - nearly a seven-fold increase in registrations
from 18- to 24-year olds.
HWTF Chair Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue said the favorable
QuitlineNC results demonstrate that media campaigns
are effective in promoting the cessation services that
double the chances that a smoker will quit for good.
"On the Great American Smokeout, the day where
millions of smokers around the country are challenged
to quit smoking, our state is already experiencing
impressive successes in increasing the numbers of
young people who quit." Perdue stated. "QuitlineNC is
the fiist step to saying 'no' to tobacco use and 'yes' to
good health."
Quitline NC (I-8OO-QUIT-NOW or 1-800-784
8669) is a toll-free phone service that connects tobacco
users with a quit coach, offering callers advice, support
and referrals to local cessation resources.
World Aids Day benefit event
Aggies Against AIDS is hosting a World AIDS Day
benefit Program on Thursday. Nov. 29 to raise funds that
wilt be used to sponsor an orphan child in Kenya, who
has lost his or her parents due to the AIDS virus.
The benefit will be held at North Carolina
Agricultural and Technical State University in the
Exhibit Hall of the Memorial Student Union.
The benefit program consists of two parts. First,
there is a candle- light walk to commemorate those who
have lost their life to the AIDS vims. The walk will
begin promptly at 6:30 p.m. in front of Sebastian Health
Center on North Carolina A & T's campus. Those who
wish to participate in the walk should arrive at least 15
minutes early at this location. The walk will end with a
guest speaker in front of the fountain behind the
Memorial Student Union. The second part of the pro
gram is a benefit show that will take place after the walk.
It will start promptly at 7 p.m. in the Exhibit Hall. The
benefit show's feature performance will be the band.
Beautiful Experience, and there will be student perform
ances by North Carolina A&T's spoken won) group.
Poetic Insurgence. as well as song, dance, and spoken
word by Couture Production. There will also be a pres
entation from Bennett College's HIV/AIDS task force.
Refreshments will be served.
Tickets are on sale and can be purchased from the
ticket office or a member of Aggies Against AIDS.
Tickets are two $2 for North Carolina A&T's students
(advance and day of show) and $3 for non - North
Carolina A&T's students (advance and day of show)
WSSU center to ease health disparities
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Winston-Salem State
University has received a five
year, $4.7 million National
Institutes of Health (NIH) grant
to establish a center to promote a
research initiative to improve the
health of minorities and elimi
nate health disparities nation
wide.
The NIH grant, through the
National Center of Minority
Health and Disparities, will fund
the establishment of the Center
for Research to
Improve Minority Health and
Eliminate Health Disparities. The
Center is focused on developing
research to improve minority
health in an attempt to eliminate
disparities in this population
group, according to Dr. Sylvia A.
Flack, principal investigator for
the grant.
"Our primary goal is to
increase our laboratory, behav
ioral, health services, clinical and
population-based research here at
WSSU to help resolve a number
of health issues affecting mil
lions of men and women in this
country," said Flack. "We also
want to increase the pool of tal
ented minority students and fac
ulty at WSSU who have the
research experience necessary to
be competitive for cutting-edge
scientific research enterprise."
WSSU has been a leader in pro
ducing health care providers to
improve health of all popula
Dr. Flack
tions. WSSU, with its past histo
ry jn collaborative research activ
ities, is now moving forward as a
leader in contributing to the
elimination of health disparities.
The award includes four
major research investigations and
eight pilot projects in the dispari
ties of diabetes, HIV/AIDS,
breast cancer, hypertension,
breast cancer, and obesity, as
well as two major investigation
in health disparities interventions
including patient centered-ness,
and health literacy. The projects
are a blend of basic and transla
tional research, which address
the complex biological, behav
ioral, environmental and social
interrelationships that underlie
See WSSU on All
Obesity in Children:
Save our Kids!
I) is disturbing to note that, accord
ing to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC), the number of
obese American adults more than dou
bled between 1976 and 2004. What's
more, we are seeing an epidemic of
obesity among our children. Whereas
five percent of children between the
ages of two and five were obese in
1976, nearly 14 percent of children in
this age range are obese today! The
prevalence of obesity nearly tripled
for those aged 6 to 11 years, and it
more than tripled for those aged 12 to
19 years. Among African American
youth, boys are about as likely to be
obese as their white counterparts.
However. African American girls are
much more likely to have an
unhealthy weight than white girls.
Obese children usually become obese
adults. As you know, being obese has
serious health consequences and can
lead to heart disease, stroke, type 2
diabetes, sleep apnea, some cancers,
and other illnesses. Let's talk about the
risks of obesity in children and what
we can do to keep our loved ones
healthy.
What risks are associated with
childhood obesity?
Children can get high blood pres
sure, too! According to the American
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), five
percent of children have higher than
normal blood pressure, and approxi
mately one percent have clinical
hypertension. While other things can
cause high blood pressure in children,
being overweight is a risk factor.
Oftentimes, high blood pressure can
be controlled with diet and exercise,
although sometimes medication is
necessary. Your pediatrician should
check your child's blood pressure at
every visit.
Moreover, children who are obese
are more likely to develop Type 2 dia
betes. Whereas Type 2 diabetes has
historically been seen mostly in adults,
there is a rising prevalence of it among
our youth. Nearly one-half of all diag
nosed diabetes cases in children are
Type 2. In fact, one in three children
born today will develop diabetes at
some point during their lifetime!
It is also important to consider the
emotional aspects of obesity. Research
has demonstrated that obese children
are more likely to be called names, be
beaten up, or have rumors spread
about them than are their healthy
weight counterparts. One study
showed that obese children are liked
the least by other children, compared
to healthy children and children with
disabilities. Another study showed
that the quality of life for obese chil
dren is similar to that for children with
cancer.
Why is this happening?
We can look at three main culprits
for the trend toward obesity in the
United States. First, our nutrition and
eating habits have changed. Fast food
restaurants have sprung up on almost
See Obesity on All
Meharry gets
$1 million
Wal-Mart
health grant
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
NASHVILLE, Tenn.- The
Wal-Mart Foundation
announced recently a $1 million
grant to the Meharry Medical
Coltfege Center for Women's
Health Research, the nation's
only center dedicated to the
study of health disparities
among women of color. Over
the next five years, the grant will
help
advance
the cen
t e r ' s
work in
address
ing dis
eases that
dispro
portion
a t e I y
impact Dr. Riley
women
from ethnic minorities - particu
larly African American women.
"The Meharry Medical
College Center for Women's
Health Research is leading the
way in understanding the health
disparities faced by women of
color and how those disparities
can be eradicated," said Linda
Dillman, executive vice presi
dent, Risk Management,
Benefits and Sustainability at
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., at an
event today announcing the
grant. "Our foundation is proud
to support their work and com
munity outreach with this
grant."
Dillman presented the $1
million check to Dr. Wayne J.
Riley, president and chief exec
utive officer, Meharry Medical
College. and Valerie
Montgomery Rice. M.D., senior
vice president for Health
Affairs, dean, School of
Medicine, and executive direc
tor, Center for Women's Health
Research, Meharry Medical
College.
"We are especially pleased
to have the philanthropic sup
port of the Wal-Mart Foundation
as it assists us in realizing our
vision of eliminating healthcare
disparities through education,
research and patient care," said
Dr. Riley.
Minorities, women less likely
to get a life-saving treatment
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
DURHAM - Many Americans hospitalized
for heart failure are coming up short when it
comes to getting the therapy they need - espe
cially women ana minorities, say
researchers al Duke University
Medical Center.
Researchers studied patterns of
implantable cardioverter defibrilla
tor (ICD) use for a two-year period
among 13,034 patients hospitalized
with heart failure in 217 hospitals
participating in the American Heart
Association's Get With The
Guidelines - Heart Failure quality
improvement program. They found
mat among tnose enginic tor illi
therapy, only 35 percent actually had one of the
devices in place or had plans for the therapy
when they left the hospital.
An ICD is a three-inch device that constant
ly monitors heart rhythms and uses electrical
shocks to help control erratic rhythms that
Dr. Hernandez
could cause the heart to stop beating.
Dr. Adrian Hernandez, the lead author of
the study and a cardiologist at the Duke
Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), says they
also found that white men are the most
likely to get ICD therapy. Hlack men
are 25 percent less likely to receive an
ICD than white men. and women -
black or white - are 50 percent less
likely to receive an ICD than white
men.
The results appeared last month in
the Journal of the American Medical
Association.
The authors say it's not clear what
accounts for the differences in ICD
use - the study wasn't designed to
detect that - but they note that when
new technology is introduced, white men are
usually the first to benefit. They say that
patient preference may play a role, or perhaps
physicians approach women and black patients
with different assumptions regarding their
health care needs or desires.