New CLOCC online event: Structural Racism and Other Influencers of Childhood Obesity

Join us online, August 27th, 2020, 1:00-3:00 PM

Join the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC) for this online opportunity to discover how structural racism and other societal factors influence childhood obesity in America. This event will lead off with featured speaker Caryn Bell, PhD, an expert on socioeconomic status and its impact on public health. Participants will also hear from the Chicago Department of Public Health about new childhood obesity data and what we know about the connections between COVID-19 and obesity-related chronic disease. The meeting will conclude with breakout discussions focused on CLOCC's developing conceptual models for addressing social influencers of health in our own obesity prevention work.

Please RSVP using the link below.

Registration instructions will be sent to respondents.

FEATURED ADDRESS:

Structural Racism and Childhood Obesity

Caryn N. Bell, PhD

Assistant Professor, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine

Caryn Bell’s research focuses on the unique impacts of socioeconomic status (SES) and place on cardiovascular disease risk factors in Black Americans and racial disparities. Her work explores the nuanced ways in which SES is associated with obesity and related behaviors in Black women and men by examining the role of place and sociocultural factors. She uses varied techniques including spatial statistics and mapping approaches. She also examines how place shapes structural racism in the U.S. and the implications for Black health and racial health inequities. She teaches courses on health equity, racism and health, as well as, place and Black health in the U.S. Prior to joining the faculty at Tulane, she was an Assistant Professor of African American Studies at the University Maryland, College Park. She received her PhD in Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and a BS in Chemistry from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Breakout Session Information

The second hour of this convening will include concurrent breakout working sessions to

review and provide feedback on one of four conceptual models that illustrate the link between nutrition, physical activity and obesity and one or more health and social issues in which there are significant racial/ethnic disparities and challenges to health equity. Participants will contribute to the final versions of these conceptual models and begin to identify areas of intervention that the CLOCC network could prioritize in the coming year and that others outside of Chicago could support in their own communities.

When you register, you will indicate your preferences among these four concurrent breakout sessions. Please note, in order to have strong participation for each topic, CLOCC can not guarantee you will be assigned to a specific breakout session:

Mental health and obesity (focus on trauma, depression and anxiety for children and families and their bi-directional relationship with food and physical activity)
Community development, the built environment, and obesity (focus on transportation, housing, economic development and retail and their relationship to nutrition and physical activity in communities)
Immigration and obesity (focus on immigration laws, policies, and discourse and their connect to nutrition and physical activity)
The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model (focus on how implementation of the model can support healthy eating and physical activity for students in school and at home)

Please RSVP by Friday, August 21

RSVP HERE