The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #38462

Julie Berson Grand, MPH, Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan, 109 Observatory, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 and Harold A. Pollack, PhD, Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan School of Public Health, 109 Observatory, SPH II, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, 734-936-1298, jbgrand@umich.edu.

The recent release of the Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity has fostered many comparisons to the watershed 1964 report on Smoking and Health. We examine the applicability of salient tobacco prevention and control strategies to curbing the overweight and obesity epidemic among youth. We explore the potential for overweight and obesity prevention in light of the diverse political and programmatic strategies that have proved successful in the anti-tobacco experience--including: taxes, youth access, advertising, labeling, mass-media, school-based programs, and health care provider interventions. We also review pertinent lessons learned from tobacco advocacy, focusing on the constellation of political forces that contributed to the implementation of policies that only a few years ago seemed implausible.

Learning Objectives:

• At the end of this presentation, participants will evaluate the potential of a tobacco prevention framework for childhood obesity prevention. Participants will also identify promising avenues of intervention from the tobacco experience.

Keywords: Obesity, Children's Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.