East Tennessee Childhood Obesity Coalition Convenes for Kickoff Event Mar. 23, 2018

Communications Director

Kristin Farley
[email protected]
(865) 215-2589

400 Main St., Room 691
Knoxville, TN 37902

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East Tennessee Childhood Obesity Coalition Convenes for Kickoff Event Mar. 23, 2018

Posted: 03/23/2018
On Friday, March 23, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. members of the East Tennessee Childhood Obesity Coalition will convene for a kickoff event under new leadership from the University of Tennessee. This meeting will be the start of strategic planning for new initiatives for the region that will help to combat childhood obesity. 

In the past, the group has launched programs like Kids Can Bike! and the Health Happens! Childhood Nutrition Education Program. The media is invited to join, and Dr. Marsha Spence as well as other coalition members will be available for interviews.

The East Tennessee Childhood Obesity Coalition (ETCOC) includes members like the City of Knoxville, Knox County, Knox County Schools, Great Schools Partnership, among others, was started in October 2008, led by East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. Since then, the Coalition has grown to include more than 50 community agencies and organizations represented by over 130 individuals. The Coalition’s mission is to improve the health of children through a community-wide coalition focusing on reducing the incidence of childhood obesity. The ETCOC is currently transitioning in leadership from East Tennessee Children’s Hospital to the University of Tennessee, Nutrition Department, under the guidance of Drs. Marsha Spence and Betsy Anderson Steeves as part of the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Nutrition Leadership Education and Training Program. 

On Friday, March 23, 2018 the MCH Nutrition Leadership team will host a kickoff event at the Howard Baker Center on the University of Tennessee campus from 11:00-12:00, and is open to agency representatives and community members who would like to join the coalition.  

The ETCOC kickoff event is in conjunction with Promoting Healthy Weight 2.0, which will be from 12:30-5:00pm. The colloquium, entitled Breaking Down Silos through Interprofessional Collaborations, is part of the biannual Promoting Healthy Weight 2.0 colloquia, which began in spring 2014. Colloquium presentations are intended for practitioners in nutrition, public health, nursing, and social work, community members and agency representatives, students, and researchers. 

For further information go to: https://nutrition.utk.edu/promoting-healthy-weight-colloquium/.


EVENT AGENDA

10:30-­‐10:55 Registration 
11:00-­‐11:10 Jay Whelan, Department Head, University of Tennessee—Welcome and Introductions 
11:10-­‐11:20 Keith Goodwin, East Tennessee Children's Hospital—Opening Remarks 
11:20-­‐11:30 Sheryl Ely, City of Knoxville, Department of Parks and Recreation—City of Knoxville Message of Support 
11:20-­‐11:25 Marsha Spence, University of Tennessee—East Tennessee Childhood Obesity Coalition Overview 
11:25-­‐11:55 Marissa McElrone, University of Tennessee–ETCOC Committee Break Out Sessions 
11:55-­‐12:00 Marsha Spence−Concluding Remarks