SAN DIEGO – The Association of American Indian Physicians will host a two-day conference March 13-14 focused on developing sustainable obesity prevention programs.

“There are changes we can make in Indian Country to prevent the chronic diseases and mortality rates associated with obesity,” Noelle Kleszynski, Healthy, Active Native Communities director, said.The conference will offer tribal leaders, health professionals and health researchers an opportunity to share best practices on creating the systemic, environmental and policy changes needed to not only combat obesity but promote physical fitness and healthier eating.

After receiving a grant from the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, the AAIP created the Healthy, Active Native Communities program to help tribal communities and partners develop sustainable obesity prevention programs. “Obesity is an epidemic that is plaguing Indian communities,” Kleszynski said. “We see it nationwide, but it is especially problematic with our country’s first citizens. To address this deadly issue head-on, we want to share ideas and provide models of successful programs that can be taken home and replicated in other tribal communities.” According to the Center for Disease Control, obesity rates in American have tripled in the past 30 years. One in every three children in the U.S. is obese and Native American citizens are 1.6 times as likely to be obese than other racial and ethnic groups. Ideas such as building environments conducive to physical activity, employing tribal personnel to teach improved family nutrition, increasing access to nutritious foods and developing local crops via community gardens are the types of models and practices that will be shared, Kleszynski said.