The California Medical Association (CMA) Foundation, in partnership with the California Nutrition Network for Healthy, Active Families and Kaiser Permanente, is pleased to announce the launch of the Physicians for Healthy Communities Initiative. The goal of the Initiative is to decrease the prevalence of overweight and obesity in youth and families in California.

Dexter Louie, MD, JD demonstrates a middle school presentation for Physicians for Healthy Communities training attendees in Riverside. Dr. Louie uses various food props to engage student audiences and relate health messages to real life.

The Physicians for Healthy Communities Initiative will provide Physician Champions with training on community collaboration, nutrition messages, and advocacy techniques to promote healthy eating and active living throughout California. The Initiative will promote important policy and environmental changes in schools and neighborhoods to counteract the rising epidemic of obesity and support improved access to healthy food and opportunities to be physically active.

Physicians for Healthy Communities training sessions have been held in the following areas throughout 2006 and 2007: (Click on city for more information)

2008:

• San Jose

2007:

• Glendale
• Los Angeles

2006:

• Bay Area
• Los Angeles- 2006
• Inland Empire
• Central Valley
• Silicon Valley (San Jose)
• Shasta County (Redding)

Meet Our Physician Champions
Meet some of our Physician Champions who are doing extraordinary things to change the health of their communities:

Meet Dexter Louie, MD, an ENT, Moraga School Board member and a community advocate. Dr. Louie noticed more and more junk food appearing on school campuses and decided to take action. He developed a program to educate middle school students about the obesity epidemic and the decisions being made about their school campuses that affect their health. Dr. Louie does not go into classrooms and lecture students about the harm found in the soda bottle – he empowers the students to become advocates and influence the decisions made about food choices at their schools. Dr. Louie has had success working in the Moraga School District and in San Francisco schools. He is now working with the CMA Foundation to train physicians on involving the community in obesity prevention efforts.

Mike Fisher, MD, is a nephrologist who began to notice more patients with end stage renal disease at younger ages. His answer was to shift medicine’s focus from treatment to prevention and community action. Dr. Fisher has energized and mobilized his community and his colleagues in this effort by creating the Santa Barbara Diabetes Resource Center. Building on this, he next approached the city of Santa Barbara to adopt America on the Move and implemented Santa Barbara on the Move! In early 2005, a kick-off event was held in Santa Barbara that brought together local health organizations, businesses, schools and more than 1,000 adults and children to take small steps to greater health. Most recently, Dr. Fisher has spearheaded a two-year Carpinteria Childhood Obesity Initiative to address and reverse the area’s childhood obesity problem. Utilizing a host of local resources, the initiative will promote individual and environmental change as it addresses participants’ eating habits, physical activity levels and environment. Dr. Fisher has reached out to local schools and businesses and brought the healthcare community together to champion his obesity prevention efforts.

Become a Physician Champion
According to a poll conducted by The California Endowment, nearly 90 percent of Californians surveyed stated that they wanted physicians to be their primary source of information about nutrition, physical activity, and other issues associated with obesity – this is where our Physician Champions come into play:

Physician Champions have the unique opportunity to directly impact the long-term health of their communities. Through a partnership with the CMA Foundation and a true desire to change society’s outlook on nutrition and physical activity for the better, everyday physicians can become key players in the effort to curb the obesity epidemic.

For more information on becoming a Physician Champion, see our Physician Champion Information sheet, or contact:

Shannon Eldridge
Project Coordinator, Obesity Prevention
916.779-6629
seldridge@thecmafoundation.org

Request a Physician Champion
Physician Champions are available to speak at

• Schools
• Community Events
• Health Fairs

Please fill out a Physicians for Healthy Communities Speaker Request Form and submit to: seldridge@thecmafoundation.org or fax to Shannon Eldridge, (916) 779-6658.