Massachusetts Department of Public Health
present     The State of our Health, The Health of our State: Obesity in Massachusetts

Obesity and overweight are two of the nation's biggest health problems, affecting people of all ages, contributing to rising levels of chronic disease, and driving up health care costs to uncharted levels. The National Center for Health Statistics calculates that more than 30 percent of American adults – some 60 million people – are obese, and another 35 percent are overweight.

In Massachusetts, more than 1 in 5 Massachusetts residents – about one million people – are obese, and almost 1 in 3 Massachusetts high-school and middle-school students are either obese or overweight.

To raise awareness of this health problem, the Massachusetts Medical Society, the State Department of Public Health, and Hopkinton Community Television have collaborated in producing a special one-hour presentation of Physician Focus: The State of our Health, the Health of our State: Obesity in Massachusetts. Created for public access television stations in Massachusetts, the video is a 60-minute package, consisting of a 58-minute program with 2 additional minutes of public service announcements.

The program has four segments examining the major aspects of obesity: (1) the causes and extent of the problem, (2) the personal and public health effects of obesity, (3) how to improve health through proper nutrition and fitness, and (4) what physicians and public and private organizations are doing to reduce and prevent overweight and obesity. The program also includes facts about obesity, a listing of resources on obesity, nutrition and fitness, and two public service announcements, one on the state’s Mass in Motion program, and one on nutrition and fitness.

The program’s content, with participating guests:

	Introduction Bruce Auerbach, M.D., 2008-2009 President, Massachusetts Medical Society John Auerbach, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Public Health
	Segment One: Obesity: How big a problem? Lauren Smith, M.D., Medical Director, Massachusetts Department of Public Health Edward Saltzman, M.D., Chief, Division of Clinical Nutrition, Tufts Medical Center
	Segment Two: Obesity’s effects: How damaging? Caroline Apovian, M.D., Director, Nutrition and Weight Management Center, Boston Medical Center Michael Yogman, M.D., Pediatrician; Founding member of the Obesity Committee of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
	Segment Three: Improving our health: Nutrition and fitness Denise Rollinson, M.D., Diplomat, American Board of Physician Nutrition Specialists; Chair, Mass. Medical Society’s Committee on Nutrition and Physical Activity Stuart Chipkin, M.D., Research Professor, Department of Kinesiology, University of Massachusetts School of Public Health
	Segment Four: Improving our health: What’s being done? Bruce Auerbach, M.D., 2008-2009 President, Massachusetts Medical Society John Auerbach, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Public Health
	Program Hosts: Bruce Karlin, M.D., Primary Care Physician, Worcester, Mass. Lynda Young, M.D., Pediatrician, Chandler Pediatrics, Worcester, Mass.
	Public Service Announcements Mass in Motion, Bruce Auerbach, M.D. and John Auerbach Nutrition and Fitness, Denise Rollinson, M.D. and Edward Saltzman, M.D.

For information or questions about this program, please contact the executive producer, Richard P. Gulla, Massachusetts Medical Society, 781-434-7101 or rgulla@mms.org