Confronting the Epidemic through Nutrition Research and Policy

Thursday, June 18 to Friday, June 19, 2009
Washington, D.C.

Geetha Raghuveer, M.D., M.P.H., currently serves as an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine and a pediatric cardiologist at Children's Hospital in Kansas City, Mo.  Dr. Raghuveer’s specialties include lipid disorders in children and clinical cardiology. According to a study led by Dr. Raghuveer, carotid arteries in obese children and teenagers resemble those of an average 45-year-old. She used ultrasound technology to measure carotid artery wall thickness, which is an indicator of increased amounts of fatty plaque in the arteries leading to the heart and brain. If that plaque ruptures, clots can result and lead to heart attack or stroke. This is one of several studies looking at a link between childhood obesity and heart disease.

Presentation Title: Adult Diseases Now Seen in Childhood

Objectives:

• Convey the impact childhood obesity has on cardiovascular mortality and morbidity and its public health importance

• Present the concept of “vascular age” versus “chronological age” and the influence of childhood obesity on “vascular age”

• Explain the adverse effects of multiple childhood obesity associated risk factors on the vasculature

• Review the preliminary evidence supporting interventions for childhood obesity and associated risk factors and its impact on cardiovascular health

Outcome: Participants will become informed about the lifetime cardiovascular impact of childhood obesity.

Accreditation: Jointly sponsored by The George Washington University and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

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