Contact:
Sean McDonnell, 952-742-6245
Cargill To Participate in National School Nutrition Summit
MINNEAPOLIS – As part of its commitment to support healthy schools and improve youth nutrition and wellness, Cargill is co-sponsoring and participating in a national summit to discuss “Nutrition in America’s K-12 Schools” and the increasing problem of childhood obesity in the United States.
Mitch Kanter, Ph.D., director of nutrition at Cargill, will join representatives from Abbott Laboratories, The Coca-Cola Company, Compass Group, ConAgra Foods, Kraft Foods and the National Institutes of Health in a panel discussion for The Keystone Center’s 3rd annual Youth Policy Summit in Keystone, Colo., on June 20. The panel also includes local and national medical and education experts.
School nutrition and childhood obesity are increasingly topics of concern in the United States. Obesity among children and youth has more than tripled over the past four decades, according to a recent report from the Institute of Medicine. Nearly half of all children in North and South America will be overweight by 2010, predicts a March 2006 report by the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity. And the number of U.S. children taking medication typically used to treat or prevent Type 2 diabetes has doubled since 2002, according to a study announced in April 2006 by Express Scripts.
“The obesity epidemic in general and adolescent obesity in particular are real public health issues that need attention now,” Kanter said. “Various government agencies, as well as a number of corporate and academic entities, have developed programs to address this critical issue. By participating in this summit, Cargill hopes to gain additional insights that will ultimately aid our ability to develop viable nutrition solutions to the growing obesity epidemic.”
In addition to Kanter, the Keystone Summit panel includes:
• Rhona Applebaum, Ph.D., chief regulatory officer, The Coca-Cola Company
• Rebecca L. Biga, Ph.D., RD, LD, research scientist, Scientific Affairs & Research and Development, Pediatrics, Ross Products Division of Abbott Laboratories
• Dr. Jim Bogden, project director, National Association of School Boards of Education
• Natalie Boyer, health coordinator, Summit School District
• Dr. Deanne Brandstetter, director of nutrition, Compass Group
• Robert Kuczmarski, Ph.D., public health, director of Obesity Prevention & Treatment Program, National Institutes of Health
• Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, Ph.D., professor, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota
• J. Rodger Steeper, MD, internal medicine, Denver, Colorado
• Bertrand Weber, director of Royal Cuisine, Hopkins School District, Minnesota
Sponsors of the 2006 Summit include Abbott Laboratories, The Coca-Cola Company, Kraft Foods, Cargill, ConAgra Foods and Compass Group.
Cargill invests nearly $4 million annually in programs that ensure a safe, nutritious, accessible global food supply, including educating consumers about the importance of a balanced diet, healthy eating choices and physical activity. For example, in April 2006 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation announced a program, made possible through a $300,000 grant from Cargill, to help 47 U.S. elementary schools improve their physical activity and nutrition policies and programs.
About Cargill:
Cargill is an international provider of food, agricultural and risk management products and services. With 142,000 employees in 61 countries, the company is committed to using its knowledge and experience to collaborate with customers to help them succeed. Cargill contributes more than $30 million a year globally to enrich the communities where its employees live and work.
About The Keystone Center:
Headquartered in Keystone, Colorado, The Keystone Center strives to equip citizens with deliberative frameworks, democratic processes, analytical information, and critical-thinking skills to navigate tough problems and develop solutions. Through its two major programs, The Keystone Center for Science and Public Policy and the Center for Education, The Keystone Center improves decisions about long-term issues by helping thought-leaders and decision-makers effectively address technically complex, politically uncertain situations and by helping students learn and teachers teach. For more information on The Keystone Center, visit http://www.keystone.org/