"Creativity and Collaboration" - a solution to obesity

by Sabina Payen, Maryland Hunger Solutions Summer Intern

Maryland Hunger Solutions was among the large group of health officials, legislators, community advocates and others who came together Tuesday to discuss the issues of obesity and nutrition in Maryland. The Healthy Active Maryland 2008 symposium on the challenges and solutions to addressing obesity was planned by the MD Healthy Eating and Active Lifestyle Coalition. The goal of the event was to empower Maryland partners to address challenges in obesity prevention efforts and to learn the practical programs, policies and solutions.

Ken Stanton, PhD, from the University of Baltimore was the keynote speaker. He made the point that "cheap food" or unhealthy food was a factor in obesity. The unhealthy stuff is the most affordable. I'll admit I live off the $3 meal of a burger, fries and soda instead of going to the market and buying healthy foods and preparing it myself.

Secretary Gloria Lawlah, Maryland Department Aging, one of the panel speakers, gave a moving and empowering speech on the how changes from the past to the present are factors in obesity. I'm too young to remember, but my father reminds me from time to time that he walked everywhere. There were few TVs and definitely no Internet or video games back then. So kids actually went outside to play or found more active things to do than sitting around all day eating. There were really no McDonald's or Burger Kings, so families actually ate home cooked meals everyday. This is very different from today's society of working families and single parent homes. Secretary Lawlah also explained that what we make a habit of now will grow with us into our old age.

The symposium was made up of several different round table discussions on the many issues and solutions to obesity, one of the speakers was Brenda Schwaab from the School and Community Nutrition Branch of the Maryland State Department of Education. Schwaab gave a very informative and interactive presentation on the policy and environment issues involved in implementing school breakfast programs and how to overcome them. She described how school breakfast can promote better eating habits in school age children.

Which brings me back to my title, "Creativity and Collaboration," two words Senator David C. Harrington, Maryland State Senate, District 47, mentioned in the closing remarks of his speech. Creativity and collaboration were his ideas for the solution to obesity. As he explained his take on it, it became clear to me that it was the solution to many issues that involve our youth. Creativity is the idea of restructuring how we do things, and collaboration is realizing that it’s not just a school system problem but a problem for all of us. We have to attack these issues from different angles now to get results in the future.

For more information on the symposium and the coalition visit: http://www.healthyactivemaryland.org.