The CUNY publication Salute to Scholars – Winter 2011 features a panorama of the many CUNY research projects focusing on the widely discussed obesity epidemic in the US–a major public health issue, as evidenced by First Lady Michelle Obama’s campaign to raise awareness about healthy nutrition, especially among young people. This excerpt features a mention of Prof. Nick Freudenberg, who’s led the CUNY Campaign Against Diabetes, headquartered at the Center for Human Environments for the last four years. CUNY CAD has produced several major reports, which are now archived on the CHE website, and can provide a basis for further research and public health projects–see the Health and Society Research Group page at

http://web.gc.cuny.edu/che/groups/hsrg.html

Note: Iris Mercado, also mentioned in this excerpt, collaborated on CUNY CAD in its early years, and brought some of its programming to her home campus, Hostos.

Nicholas Freudenberg, Distinguished Professor of Public Health at the new CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College, is one of the leaders of the effort to end the obesity epidemic. “Our faculty is engaged in research on obesity at every level — from animal studies on fat metabolism to evaluation of community and school programs to analyses of local, national and global food policies,” he says. “And as the university that trains more teachers, nurses, social workers, nutritionists and public health professionals than any other institution in the region, CUNY can prepare the work force needed to bring obesity under control.”

Throughout the University professors and students — and their courses, workshops, research studies, advocacy projects and counseling groups — are bringing slow but real change. The University’s cafeterias are beginning to address complaints that healthy food in their facilities is both too expensive and too hard to find. Walking groups for exercise are being formed and more posters now urge people to burn extra calories by taking the stairs. At Queens College, students are lobbying for more healthy choices in vending machines. And these choices do exist. For example, the baby-carrot industry recently unveiled its own vending machines Iris Mercado, who teaches health education and nutrition at Hostos Community College, leads a group, Healthy Weight. “One day that you overeat does not erase everything that you have done for three or four months,” the assistant professor recently told the group’s members. And she has some tips, too: Fill up on some plain yogurt or skim milk before a party, for example. “And remember,” she adds, “a pina colada has more than 600 calories. A rum and Diet Coke? Only 150.”

To read the entire article in Salute to Scholars, see

http://www.cuny.org/news/publications/salute-to-scholars/winter2011/fightingobesity.html