Two Texas A&M University faculty representatives are taking part in discussions of obesity research at the 2014 Southeastern Conference (SEC) Symposium in Atlanta. Texas A&M Interim President Mark Hussey and Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Karan Watson are also representing the university at the three-day symposium that concludes today.
Dr. Joseph Sharkey was selected to moderate a session on workplace strategies to prevent obesity at the symposium and Dr. Judith Warren was selected to present a session on family gardening to improve healthy eating.
Sharkey is director of the Program for Research and Outreach-Engagement on Nutrition and Health Disparities in the Department of Health Promotion & Community Services in the Texas A&M School of Public Health, which is part of the Texas A&M Health Science Center. He also serves as director of the Texas Healthy Aging Research Network.
Warren is the special initiatives coordinator for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and previously served as its associate director for human sciences. She also holds a professorial appointment in the Texas A&M School of Public Health.
They are joined at the symposium by counterparts from all of the 13 other universities in the SEC.
The symposium is titled “Prevention of Obesity: Overcoming a 21st Century Public Health Challenge” and is the second such academic event established by SEC presidents and chancellors. It is led by an SEC university and focuses on an issue of global interest. It also showcases the academic excellence and underscores the educational and economic contributions of the SEC’s members.
Obesity prevention and treatment are popular topics among media, lawmakers, healthcare professionals and others, note organizers of the SEC Symposium. While the subjects have gained attention during the past decade, the U.S. has not seen a significant reduction in population-level obesity rates over the same 10-year span, they add.
This year’s topics range from genetics, to technology and media, to environmental influences. The symposium is divided into eight sessions of formal presentations and includes informal breakout sessions intended to foster interaction and discussion among participants.
As noted in following link to a news release issued Monday by the SEC, the league is about more than sports: http://www.thesecu.com/sec-symposium-shows-league-about-more-than-sports.php
Portions of the symposium, including the opening keynote address from Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association, are being covered by the new SEC Network.
“We are pleased that the SEC Network, through its digital SEC Network+ platform, will provide coverage of this year’s SEC Symposium,” said Charlie Hussey, associate commissioner for SEC Network Relations, in announcing the coverage earlier this month. “In addition to the more than 550 exclusive, live athletic events planned for SEC Network+, this SEC Symposium coverage is yet another way to showcase the SEC by promoting the academic and research accomplishments of our conference.”
This article was written by Lane Stephenson and sourced from http://tamutimes.tamu.edu/2014/09/23/texas-am-well-represented-at-sec-symposium-in-atlanta/#.VCskeyldUi6.
